14 Things You Won’t Believe About ‘The Secret Life Of The American Teenager’

Published on August 4, 2015.

The Secret Life of the American Teenager aired on ABC Family from 2008 to 2013 and launched the career of Divergent star Shailene Woodley. The show focuses on freshman Amy Juergens, played by Woodley, who becomes pregnant after a one night stand with band mate Ricky, and is forced to deal with the harsh realities of teenage parenthood. The show’s central themes include homosexuality, teenage drama, conflicts among family members, and relationships. Over the course of the show, Amy navigates high school, relations with her child’s father, being a mother to her son, and choosing her own path. Besides being the starting point of Woodley’s career there are many cool facts about the show, check out 14 of them!

14. American Girl

The Secret Life of the American Teenager is not the first time John Schneider (Marshall Bowman) and Shailene Woodley (Amy Juergens) have worked together. In Felicity: An American Girl Adventure (2005), Woodley and Schneider play daughter and father in the film inspired by the American Girl doll book series. Meanwhile Molly Ringwald (Anne Juergens) appeared in another American Girl movie called Molly: An American Girl on the Home Front (2006).

13. 7th Heaven

Brenda Hampton produced both 7^th Heaven and The Secret Life of the American Teenager. Shailene Woodley’s character Amy makes a reference to 7^th Heaven when she requests a Dairy Shack burger. Matt Camden made deliveries for Dairy Shack in 7^th Heaven.

Michael Ansell / © ABC Family / Courtesy: Everett Collection

12. Back Braces

At the age of 15, Shailene Woodley (Amy Juergens) was diagnosed with Idiopathic Scoliosis. When she started filming The Secret Life of the American Teenager, she was wearing a brace from her hips to her chest.

Craig Sjodin / © ABC Family / Courtesy: Everett Collection

11. Canadian, Eh!

Actress Megan Park (Grace Bowman) is Canadian and was born in Lindsay, Ontario. She attended Oakridge Secondary School and was a member of the Original Kids Theater Company. Rachel McAdams and Trevor Blumas got their acting start in the same theater group.

Craig Sjodin / © ABC Family / Courtesy: Everett Collection

10. Marrying Superbad

While filming The Secret Life of the American Teenager, Ken Baumann who plays Ben, married Aviva Farber (now Baumann). Farber played Nicola in Superbad, or the girl with the white pants and the black g-string. When he is not acting, Baumann is a writer and published his first book, Solip, in 2013.

Photo by Picture Perfect / Rex Features

9. Staying in School

When Shailene Woodley got into the biz, her parents told her she had to keep doing well in school. Woodley was 17 when she started filming The Secret Life of the American Teenager, and received school work from her teacher that she could do on set. Her hard work paid off and she graduated with the rest of classmates.

Dee Cercone/Everett Collection

8. Besties

While their characters don’t have a lot in common, Shailene Woodley (Amy Juergens) and Megan Park (Grace Bowman) are actually best friends off-screen.

Craig Sjodin / © ABC Family / Courtesy: Everett Collection

7. Take That Gossip Girl

When it first aired on July 1, 2008, The Secret Life of the American Teenager had a record-breaking 2.82 million viewers, which made it the most watched pilot on ABC. Its first season’s finale had 4.5 million viewers and beat out Gossip Girl’s viewership that night.

Bob D’Amico / © ABC Family / Courtesy: Everett Collection

6. Fat Camp

When The Secret Life of the American Teenager started, Molly Ringwald (Annie Juergens) was trying to get pregnant. Creator Brenda Hampton told her that should that happen, they would create a storyline where Annie gained weight due to depression and then went to fat camp. When Ringwald became pregnant with twins in 2009, that idea was ditched.

Bob D’Amico / © ABC Family / Courtesy: Everett Collection

5. The Best Man

Off-set, Francia Raisa (Adrian Lee) has a strong friendship with cast mate Allen Evangelista (Henry Miller). Evangelista married Christina Burhoe in Hawaii during the winter of 2013 and Raisa stood up with him as his best man. Evangelista has a son with Burhoe who was born in 2011.

4. The Voice

The Secret Life of the American Teenager’s theme song”Let’s Do It (Let’s Fall in Love)” was written by Cole Porter and sung by Molly Ringwald (Anne Juergens). Ringwald released her first album called “I Wanna Be Loved By You” when she was six-years-old.

3. The Virgin Cheerleader

The character of Grace, played by Megan Park, is based on creator Brenda Hampton’s niece. She was a Christian cheerleader and kept her vow of chastity, unlike Grace.

2. Fighting for the Cause

Megan Park (Grace Bowman) suffers from juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, which causes swelling and pain in her joints, and was diagnosed four years before starting The Secret Life of the American Teenager. She joined Joint Decisions, an educational program to raise awareness. Currently there is no cure and the cause is unknown.

Photo by BDG / Rex Features

1. The Gymnast

Shawn Johnson’s favourite show is The Secret Life of the American Teenager, and after winning four gold medals in the Beijing Olympics, she got a guest role on the show in two episodes: “Just Say No” (2008) and “Just Say Me” (2010).