Keri Russell

Disney fired girls who were “sexually active”

Keri Russell opens up about her time at the "Mickey Mouse Club" and revealed that it came to an abrupt end because she was "sexually active".

(Bild: APA/Getty Images via AFP/GETTY IMAGES/Phillip Faraone)

Like Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Justin Timberlake, actress Keri Russell once started her career in the "Mickey Mouse Club". Now the 48-year-old has opened up about being fired for being "sexually active".

Keri Russell was part of the "Mickey Mouse Club" from 1991 to 1993. At the age of 17, however, the "Mission: Impossible III" actress suddenly called it quits. The 48-year-old has now revealed the reason in an interview with the podcast "Dinner's On Me".

No room for girls who were "sexually active"
"It was usually girls who looked like they were sexually active," Russell revealed. "I was probably one of the first. They were like: 'She's out. This one has to go.'" And joked further: "Pregnant Mouseketeers weren't on the list."

Keri Russell (center) was part of the "Mickey Mouse Club". She was joined by JC Chasez, Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears, among others, on the children's show.

(Bild: Everett Collection / picturedesk.com)

However, this rule only applied to the girls in the "Mickey Mouse Club", not the boys. After all, their colleagues Tony Lucca and JC Chasez didn't leave the show until later, according to Russell. "The boys stayed until they were about 19."

And it wasn't just the age that was apparently measured with double standards, as Russell went on to reveal: "I said: 'By the way, I've had sex with this person, so I know she's had sex.' Really." However, the actress did not reveal who she was having sex with at the time.

"Made Disney nervous"
"You know, girls and sexuality..." Russell continued. "But I had a body like a twelve-year-old boy. There wasn't really anything sexy about me, but I think that's what made Disney nervous."

Only recently, Russell explained that she was happy to have come out of her time as a "Mouseketeer" "alive" and with her "sanity" and "dignity", because: "Not everyone has done that ..."