7th Heaven cast candidly reacts to Stephen Collins child sex abuse scandal in new doc: Im shaking

In a new documentary, cast members from “7th Heaven” react to the Stephen Collins scandal onscreen. Called “Hollywood Demons,” the new ID docuseries covers various showbiz scandals, and the premiere episode airing Monday, March 24 (9 p.m.) is called “Stephen Collins, America’s Dad,” covering how Collins played the borderline saintly father figure on the hit family show “7th Heaven” before he was disgraced by an underage sexual misconduct scandal.Former “7th Heaven” cast members Jeremy London and Kyle Searles react to listening to the recording of Collins talking about exposing himself to minors – which TMZ first published in 2014 – and his subsequent “20/20” interview with Katie Couric about it that same month. None of the main cast members who played his kids appear in the doc.

Text onscreen explains that producers reached out to over 100 of Collins’ former contacts.But, in a 2024 “7th Heaven” rewatch podcast, David Gallagher, who played Collins’ onscreen son, said, “All forms of abuse, sexual abuse of any kind, it’s inexcusable.

And victims of abuse need to be shown compassion and they should be given support.”Beverley Mitchell added that the cast members do not “excuse or condone his behavior.”During the “20/20” interview, when Collins admitted that his first victim was 10, Searles said onscreen that he wasn’t aware of that. “I’m kind of like shaking right now,” he said in “Hollywood Demons,” watching the footage. Searles, 39, who played family friend Mac on “7th Heaven,” explained that it was his first time watching the “20/20” interview because when the scandal first broke, “it was me just trying to ‘stick your head in the sand’ kind of thing.” Collins, 77, starred on the WB show “7th Heaven” as Eric Camden, benevolent minister and father of seven kids.Jessica Biel, Barry Watson, Mitchell, Mackenzie Rosman, and David Gallagher were among the actors playing his kids. A...