MacGyver: What You Didn’t Know About The Classic Show

Where’s the Love?

Poor Angus MacGyver never really found love. He almost had a relationship with Phoenix Foundation operative Nikki Carpenter (played by Elyssa Davalos), but fans hated the arc, worrying that the show would become too much like a soap opera.

Carpenter was written off the show after several guest episodes. Her husband, she explained, had been killed in a mafia car-bombing that was meant for her, and so she was too afraid to get involved with MacGyver for fear that she’ll “jinx” him and he’d end up dead like her husband. Davalos was memorable in her role though. She wasn’t the only character MacGyver didn’t end up with.

The Woman Who Drove Fans Crazy

Maria Romburg was introduced as a possible love interest for MacGyver, but the character, played by Brigitta Stenberg, didn’t quite win over fans the way she won over the agent. She left the show after hundreds of angry letters poured in from female and male fans—some of whom wanted MacGyver to remain single because they found him attractive, and others who wanted to avoid the soap opera vibe.

On the show, Maria left the Phoenix project for an assignment after appearing in just a couple of episodes. Stenberg had a few other small roles in TV movies and shows up until 1999.