"I envisioned spending my life alone"

Melissa Gilbert: Why "No One" Would Date Her During 'Little House On The Prairie'

Melissa Gilbert was one of the biggest young stars of her time thanks to Little House on the Prairie. However, as a teenager, the actress felt far from popular and was afraid that no one would ever date her. Here's why she feared she'd spend her life alone.

Melissa Gilbert is a famous actress
She starred in 'Little House on the Prairie'
Learn more about her life and love fears

Melissa Gilbert was one of the major young stars of the 1970s and '80s while on Little House on the Prairie. But the teenage actress actually felt rather unpopular at the time, especially since none of her classmates wanted to date her.

Little House on the Prairie: Melissa Gilbert's love life fears

"I feared my grandfather's hugs and kisses on the weekend would be the only attention I'd ever get from a man," Gilbert wrote in her biography Prairie Tale: A Memoir.

"I envisioned spending my life alone, playing solitaire. No, it was worse than that. I pictured myself alone, pathetically cheating at solitaire," she added.

Melissa Gilbert in Little House on the Prairie.

When Gilbert's friends started dating, her fear of being alone forever intensified. "Hearing my girlfriends begin to giddily report about their make-out sessions with boys sent me into a near catastrophic panic that no one was ever going to want to date me," Gilbert recalled.

In her youth, the Little House star initially fell for actor Scott Baio, who played "Chachi" on Happy Days. She and a friend visited him on the set several times with hopes that he would fall in love with her too. Disappointingly, she learned that "he couldn't have been more disinterested."

Melissa Gilbert: Why nobody wanted to date her

It wasn't until 20 years after graduating high school that Gilbert learned why her peers weren't interested in her: "At my twentieth high school reunion, I found out that none of the boys asked me out because they figured I was dating movie stars, like Scott," she recalled.

Melissa Gilbert has retired

Today the Little House actress is 59 years old and is married to actor and director Timothy Busfield, her third husband. They live in the American Midwest.