“Diff’rent Strokes”’ Todd Bridges Recalls Sexual Encounters with Dana Plato as a Pre-Teen: ‘How Would a 12-Year-Old Girl Know About That?’
“Diff’rent Strokes”’ Todd Bridges Recalls Sexual Encounters with Dana Plato as a Pre-Teen: ‘How Would a 12-Year-Old Girl Know About That?’
Angela AndaloroTue, April 28, 2026 at 12:00 AM UTC
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Dana Plato as Kimberly Drummond, Conrad Bain as Philip Drummond, Todd Bridges as Willis Jackson in "Diff'rent Strokes"Credit: Paul Drinkwater/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank -
Dana Plato played Kimberly Drummond, the daughter of a millionaire, on Diff'rent Strokes from 1978 to 1984
Costar Todd Bridges recalls the first incident that made him aware his friend had been sexualized by others as a young teenager
Plato died in May 1999 of a drug overdose that was later ruled a suicide
Dana Plato's formative years were filled with scrutiny as a young woman.
The late actress' complicated life journey is discussed in the latest episode of Hollywood Demons, "Child Stars Gone Wild." Born on Nov. 7, 1964, Plato appeared in dozens of television roles and commercials before landing the role of Kimberly Drummond, the daughter of a millionaire, on eight seasons of Diff'rent Strokes.
Experts discuss how Plato was sexualized at an early age within the industry, with costar Todd Bridges recalling an incident with Plato that showed a sexual awareness beyond her years.
"I was sleeping one time in the room on the set, and somebody zips my pants down and starts giving me a b-----b, and it was Dana," he recalled.
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Dana PlatoCredit: Herb Ball/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank
“How would a 12-year-old girl know about that? The only way that you're going to do that to someone else is if you have experienced that yourself," Bridges reasoned.
Bridges, who was a year younger than Plato, maintained a close relationship with her throughout her time on the show. He said that throughout their teens, “Dana was wild."
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"My first experience with everything was with Dana. My first threesome was with Dana. My first foursome was with Dana. Our first fivesome was with Dana.”
Providing his expert opinion on the subject, Dr. Drew Pinsky shared, "Threesomes, foursomes, fivesomes, that's typically sex addiction. So you have to wonder, when young adolescents or children engage in sexual acts that maybe they shouldn't have understood can be even in the repertoire of sexual behaviors, you have to wonder if there'd been some sexual abuse prior."
For Bridges, he admitted it was "sad" not knowing what was happening to his friend, who battled drug abuse for years following her time on the sitcom, and was arrested in 1991 for robbing a video store at gunpoint.
"She could never just tell us what was really going on in her head, and I really wish she could have because we could have really helped her. No matter how much I talked about it, she didn't want to talk about it. She didn't ever want to talk about her feelings."
Plato died of a drug overdose — later ruled a suicide — on May 8, 1999.
Child Stars Gone Wild premieres Monday, April 27 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on ID. New episodes of Hollywood Demons premiere weekly and are available to stream on HBO Max.
If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
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Source: “AOL Entertainment”
