Todd Bridges Recounts Reuniting With ‘Diff’rent Strokes’ Costar Gary Coleman After Feud

Michelle Stein July 20, 2026, 8:43 am

DIFF'RENT STROKES, Todd Bridges, Gary Coleman — Columbia/Tri-Star / Courtesy: Everett Collection

What To Know

Todd Bridges recounted how his relationship with Diff’rent Strokes costar Gary Coleman changed over the years.
Bridges shared a story about unexpectedly reuniting and reconciling with Coleman when they were seated next to each other on a plane.
He also recalled a teenage altercation with Coleman that led to tension on set.

Todd Bridges recently told the story of how he reunited with his Diff’rent Strokes costar, Gary Coleman, years after they butted heads as child stars on the ’80s sitcom.

Between July 10 and July 12, Bridges, 61, made appearances at the Fanboy Expo Knoxville. There, he recounted how his and Coleman’s relationship changed over the years — as well as a chance encounter that allowed them to reconcile.

“The first three years [of Diff’rent Strokes] we were all very close, and then Gary’s parents came and changed a lot of stuff,” Bridges said at the event, per People. He noted that they “weren’t very close after that.”

Additionally, Bridges shared a “funny story” of running into Coleman after they hadn’t spoken in years.

“I’m about to get on a plane, and somebody says, ‘Hey, man, your little brother’s here,’” he explained. “I’m like, ‘I ain’t got no older brother, what are you talking about?’ He was like, ‘Your little brother’s here.’ I go, ‘Dude, I have no idea…’ He goes, ‘Gary Coleman.’”

When Bridges boarded the plane, he realized that he and Coleman had been assigned seats next to each other.

“We were going to different places in New York, but I’m sitting, and he goes, ‘They set us up.’ I go, ‘Yes, they did,'” he recalled. “So we ended up sitting there and talking, and that’s how we connected again.”

During an August 2025 appearance on The Patrick LabyorSheaux with Patrick Labyorteaux, Bridges said he and Coleman were “tight like brothers.” He also detailed a tense incident when they were young teenagers.

“At 13 years old, Gary slapped me, and I slapped him back,” he revealed, which resulted in Coleman’s father trying to get Bridges fired. (That didn’t happen.) Thankfully, they “became close again” years later.

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In 2010, Coleman died at 42 following a brain hemorrhage after a fall in his home.

Diff’rent Strokes aired for eight seasons from 1978 to 1986. In addition to Bridges as Willis Jackson and Coleman as Arnold Jackson, the series starred Conrad Bain, Dana Plato, Mary Jo Catlett, Danny Cooksey, Shavar Ross, and more.

Diff’rent Strokes, streaming on Tubi and FRNDLY TV