Will Smith says Fresh Prince co-star Karyn Parsons refused to go on a date with him

Parsons played his cousin Hilary on the sitcom

Will Smith has confessed that he wanted to date his The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air co-star Karyn Parsons but she turned him down.

In his self-titled memoir, Smith discussed how Parsons insisted their relationship stay purely professional.

Smith wrote that Parsons “was smart enough to tell me ‘hell no’ when I tried to explain that we were not really cousins so it would be fine if we dated. (‘I swear it won’t mess up our working relationship.’ She knew better than that — good call KP).”

On the show, which also starred James Avery and Alfonso Ribeiro, Smith and Parsons played cousins.

Smith also describes Parsons as “the least experienced next to me” as her performance as Hilary Banks was her first starring role.

He also claims that she “beat out a slew of Hollywood big hitters to win her role”.

Shortly after, Smith met his first wife Sheree Zampino at a taping of A Different World which filmed nearby.

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air started airing in 1990 as Smith started to transition away from his rapping career.

It would go on to be a massive critical and commercial hit with the entire cast having appearing in a televised reunion late last year.

(Getty Images for AFI)

A reboot of the show has also been announced with Jabari Banks cast as Will Smith.