David Boreanaz recalls that Betty White had a bold reaction when they first met, which many people found awkward
David Boreanaz recalls his Bones guest star Betty White—and her caustic way with words.
Boreanaz, 56, disclosed to fellow cast members at the Bones: 20th Anniversary Retrospective panel at the first Televerse Festival on Saturday, Aug. 16, that White made an unexpected and direct comment toward him on set. According to reports, he handled it with grace.
White’s first of two appearances as Dr. Beth Mayer occurred in the 11th season episode “The Carpals in the Coy-Wolves,” which aired in 2015. After actor T. J. Thyne confessed she was “a little troublemaker” on set, Boreanaz, who portrayed protagonist Seeley Booth in the long-running drama, said at the Bones panel that White’s problems included one NSFW comment.
“She came up at the diner. They drive Ms. White in, and the crew ushers her into the diner. And she says hello to everyone,” he remarked about their first encounter. “Emily [Deschanel] and I are waiting for her.” And she says, ‘Great to see you. Oh, nice to see you. You’re really polite. You’re very beautiful. She approaches Emily and says, ‘Oh, you’re so beautiful.’”
“She looks at me and says, ‘Holy shit, I want to f— you.’” “I want to f— you!” “I just started laughing,” Boreanaz said.
Deschanel, 48, later stated during the reunion conversation, which was hosted by PEOPLE’s Sean Mandell and included comments from Thyne, Hart Hanson, Tamara Taylor, Michaela Conlin, and Eric Millegan, that she did not recall the interaction.
“I’m not saying it didn’t happen; I’m saying I didn’t hear that, but that’s amazing,” Taylor added, referring to White as a “legendary potty mouth.”
White made her second cameo on Bones during the show’s 12th season in 2017, in the episode “The Radioactive Panthers in the Party.” Before her death in December 2021, the Golden Girls star made only a few cameos in the series. She also had cameos in Ugly Betty, 30 Rock, and SpongeBob SquarePants.
Bones lasted for 12 seasons, from 2005 to 2017. The series received two Primetime Emmy nominations, in 2009 and 2012. Since then, Deschanel and Bones co-star Carla Gallo created their rewatch podcast, Boneheads, in 2024.
Deschanel told PEOPLE at Televerse that revisiting the series for her podcast has been “fun,” especially because she hadn’t seen some of the episodes in 20 years.
“It’s been incredibly exciting to see the program since I hadn’t watched any of them in around 20 years. I believe there are a couple of episodes that I haven’t seen yet. And as we proceed, there will undoubtedly be ones I have never seen before,” she remarked. “So it’s intriguing to go back and ask, ‘What did we do?’ And I think one takeaway is that it was quite decent.” The show is pretty solid.”