Melissa Gilbert, who played Laura Ingalls on "Little House on the Prairie," pleaded to have her kissing scenes with Almanzo Wilder cut off.

Melissa Gilbert, star of Little House on the Prairie, was just a "dorky" fifteen-year-old when she met her on-screen spouse. To her dismay, the actor cast as Almanzo Wilder was in his twenties.

The thought of kissing a man with "stubble" frightened the teenage actor. It was so terrible that she wished to "run away and hide."Therefore, whenever there was an embracing scene between two characters, Gilbert would request that Michael Landon remove it. (She desired their replacement with scenes of embracing.)Melissa Gilbert was terrified by the first coupling scene in 'Little House on the Prairie' between Laura and Almanzo. 

In her memoir Prairie Tales, Elizabeth Gilbert reflects on how overprotected she was as a child. Her mother never discussed puberty or sexual matters with her. Due to her ignorance, the Little House star remained unaware of such matters well into her teenage years. (She even claims that her mother refused to explain the purpose of contraceptives. 

When Gilbert inquired, her mother simply responded that they were used for cosmetics.) Due to her lack of romantic experience, she was terrified of her kissing scene with her co-star, who portrayed Almanzo Wilder in the series. Gilbert asserts that at the time, she had no desire to kiss anyone, particularly an adult male. The thought of kissing someone "with stubble" made her "nauseous" when she was fifteen years old. 

Gilbert "rushed to the craft service table and popped some chips in his mouth to get rid of the cooties" after the kissing scenario was over.  

Melissa Gilbert desired to substitute hugging sequences for kissing ones between Laura and Almanzo.Gilbert confesses that every time she saw the name "Almanzo" in the scripts for Little House on the Prairie, she felt "sick to her stomach."

Even the thought of acting in any scenario with him horrified her. She was terrified whenever they were required to exchange an on-screen kiss. 

In her autobiography, the star of Little House on the Prairie writes, "Every time I saw a script in which Almanzo was to kiss Laura, I begged whoever was standing nearby to locate Mike, and I'd ask him if we could change it to a hug. I was terrified by the prospect of pretending to be in love when I had never experienced it. Gilbert continues, stating, "Obviously, I was inexperienced in all of my acting roles, but love was different. It necessitated exposing more of myself and more parts of myself than I was willing or able to." 

Melissa Gilbert is now 'great friends' with Almanzo Wilder, who played Laura Ingalls' on-screen beau.Gilbert is now extremely close friends with Dean Butler, the actor who once horrified her and made her feel "nauseous."

She discusses their friendship in her autobiography. "Thank goodness, we're now great friends," she says. 

"He is aware that he terrified me, and as a result, I did everything in my power to make him feel as uncomfortable as possible." Little House on the Prairie: Laura Ingalls actress Melissa Gilbert requested that her kissing scenes with Almanzo Wilder actor Dean Butler be cut.