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"The Love Boat" boasted some noteworthy passengers. Across almost a decade, Gavin MacLeod, Bernie Kopell, and the rest of "The Love Boat" cast were joined by some noteworthy passengers. Some were newbies, like Tom Hanks. Others were already icons, like Ginger Rogers. However, even though the series didn't seem to have difficulty attracting guest stars, when producer Aaron Spelling tried to book musician and dancing sensation Charo during the first season, he almost didn't succeed.
Rather than a lack of interest, Charo's initial refusal was due to her packed schedule of live performances at the Sahara in Las Vegas, Nevada. To persuade her, Spelling made her guest role as stowaway April Lopez easy to prep for and very close to the performer's real-life persona. After that, everything fell into place. "It was love at first sight. The best cast in the world," Charo recalled to Remind Magazine in 2025. The feeling was clearly mutual, and the production team wanted to include her as a series regular.
Charo already had a few film and TV credits before "The Love Boat," including a 1973 appearance on "The Carol Burnett Show." "If you're a comedian, it's very easy to act," she explained to the Las Vegas Sun in 2003, reflecting on her "Love Boat" experience. While the beloved '70s show hasn't aged well, Charo made friends for life. Since then, she's continued to expand her resume, including a guest appearance on "That '70s Show," and another boat-based series, "The Suite Life on Deck."
Charo eventually became a recurring guest star on The Love Boat
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Although Charo didn't have enough free time to star on "The Love Boat," she expanded her initial guest commitment from one episode to nine, even during some of the busiest times in her life. Her son, Shel Rasten, was born in 1981, and one of her guest appearances overlapped her pregnancy. Even though she was six months pregnant, her character April wasn't.
To make things even more challenging, Charo was supposed to wear a bikini in one scene. At first, she didn't think her pregnancy would be visible on camera. "I dance a lot. I was so flat that we went ahead with the episode," Charo explained to "Pop Goes the Culture TV." Unfortunately, things changed rapidly. "During 30 minutes of lunch, my belly was [. . .] like a watermelon." Luckily, the crew managed to maintain the illusion by using creative blocking with other actors in the scene.
Although the final episode of "The Love Boat" aired in 1986, it came back for a few specials, including the 1987 feature-length episode "Who Killed Maxwell Thorne?" where Charo reprised her role as April Lopez one last time. While she wasn't willing to sideline her career for a regular role on "The Love Boat," by the end of 1988, she took a hiatus to prioritize raising her son. Once they got settled in Hawaii, she balanced working and parenting once again, and returned to performing live.
