How Heather Locklear Saved “Melrose Place” from Being Canceled After Just One Season (Exclusive)

Victoria Edel, Andrea LavinthalWed, April 22, 2026 at 6:44 PM UTC

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From left: Heather Locklear, Courtney Thorne-Smith, Laura Leighton, Daphne Zuniga, Vanessa Estelle Williams, and Josie BissettCredit: Yu Tsai -

Heather Locklear and the cast of Melrose Place opened up to PEOPLE about how she saved the show when she joined the series as a main character

Locklear played the villainous Amanda Woodward

Locklear also reflected on why people loved to tune in for the show's "catfights"

Heather Locklear left a huge mark on Melrose Place.

Locklear, 64, and the cast of the series reunited with PEOPLE for our World's Most Beautiful issue. Joining Locklear were Vanessa Estelle Williams, Josie Bissett, Daphne Zuniga, Laura Leighton and Courtney Thorne-Smith.

Melrose Place was a spinoff of Beverly Hills, 90210 and, like that show, a creation of superproducer Aaron Spelling. It debuted on July 8, 1992, on Fox, but wasn't a major success at first. It was only when Locklear's Amanda Woodward became a series regular at the start of the second season that things kicked off in a major way.

Asked when the cast knew Melrose Place had become a huge hit, Zuniga, 63, said, “We didn't know because we were working 14-hour days.” Bissett, 55, noted that there was “no social media” to tell them how fans were responding either.

“I think once we did the Rolling Stone cover, I went, ‘This is awesome,' ” Locklear remembered. That issue came out May 19, 1994; the headline read, “Melrose Place's Bod Squad.”

Heather LocklearCredit: Yu Tsai

But Thorne-Smith, 58, had a different perspective. “Heather's too humble to say it, but we were in a lot of danger of being canceled until she came on,” she said. “And that's when we became a hit.”

Locklear said, “I did not know that.” Zuniga added, “Whenever Courtney brings that up, Heather's like, ‘I didn't know you were going to get canceled.' Come on.”

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For more World's Most Beautiful content, including cover star Anne Hathaway, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE on newsstands Friday.

Asked if she really didn't know about how her role on the series helped save the show, Locklear said, “I wasn't saving it, I just wanted a job.”

Thorne-Smith added, “You could see the writers figure it out. They were like, 'Oh, we have something here.' That was the turn that got more interesting for everybody, us included; it got more fun.”

Heather Locklear on 'Melrose Place'Credit: Moviestore/Shutterstock

Amanda was an advertising executive at D&D Advertising who fought and lied her way to the top. She was involved with almost every man on the show as well. In 2019, Rolling Stone named her one of the greatest TV villains of all time, writing in part, “Amanda's unpredictable secrets and voracious appetite for the male characters made her a sensation.”

Locklear reflected on why the audience was so drawn to watching the women on the show behave badly. “I think people like watching catfights,” she said. “There's a little bit of everybody in all of the characters. So maybe they like seeing a glimpse of themselves and then maybe what they should be doing or not doing.”

Melrose Place peaked at 14 million viewers during its second and third seasons. The series ran until 1999.

The show also starred Thomas Calabro, Doug Savant, Grant Show, Andrew Shue, Marcia Cross, Jack Wagner and Lisa Rinna.

After Melrose Place, Locklear starred in the Michael J. Fox series Spin City from 1999 to 2002. Other roles have included Hot in Cleveland, Franklin & Bash and the 2024 Lifetime movie Mormon Mom Gone Wrong: The Ruby Franke Story.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”