MacGyver star Lucas Till alleges he was left ‘suicidal’ after abuse and body-shaming by show’s producer

Actor claimed former showrunner made repeated comments about his physique

Lucas Till in the US TV series 'MacGyver' (CBS Television)

Lucas Till, the star of US action series MacGyver, has alleged that he was left “suicidal” after years of verbal abuse and body-shaming by the show’s executive producer.

Peter Lenkov, who ran MacGyver, Magnum PI and Hawaii Five-0 for US broadcaster CBS, was dropped from the network this month following an investigation into complaints of a toxic work environment on his sets.

Till, best known for his role as Havok in the X-Men franchise, has now claimed that he made numerous complaints to CBS executives about Lenkov’s behaviour towards him.

“I’ve never worked this hard in my life, and I am fine with hard work,” Till told Vanity Fair. “But the way Peter treats people is just unacceptable. I was suicidal that first year on the show, because of the way he made me feel. But the way he’s treated the people around me – that’s just my breaking point.”

Till also claimed that Lenkov repeatedly critiqued his physical appearance, once referring to his legs as “f***ing hideous”.

“There was always something about my appearance that wouldn’t please him,” Till wrote in an email to CBS HR, “like when I was in a hospital gown and our producer…thought it was funny that [Lenkov] said my legs were ‘f***ing hideous’ and we can never show them again.

“Honestly, I found some humour in that comment as well, but you can imagine if that was a more sensitive spot that he had hit, and often did. Just like the time he screamed at [a director] ‘Oh, my f***ing God! Tuck his shirt in, he looks like a little f***ing boy.’ Just hire a 35-year-old then. I’ve struggled with maintaining ‘man weight’ on the show because of the stress, no time to work out, and an unpredictable schedule for proper nourishment.”

Through his lawyer, Lenkov called Till’s claims “100 per cent false and untrue”, adding that he “has championed him from the very beginning and has been nothing but supportive of him”.

Lenkov also denied all allegations of abuse and mistreatment of his cast and crews.

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