Alison Arngrim Reflects on Being 'the Prairie B---h'

Andrea ReiherTue, February 24, 2026 at 2:54 AM UTC

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For millions of viewers, Little House on the Prairie star Alison Arngrim will forever be Nellie Oleson—the perfectly curled, expertly cruel rival who made life in Walnut Grove delightfully miserable for Melissa Gilbert's Laura Ingalls

And as it turns out, Arngrim has embraced that legacy fully.

During a recent appearance on Steve Dale’s Other World, the actress reflected on being voted television’s No. 1 “bitch” in a 1995 Hall of Fame Vanity Fair article—a ranking she says she wears as a badge of honor.

Melissa Gilbert as Laura Elizabeth Ingalls Wilder, Alison Arngrim as Nellie Oleson in 'Back to School: Part 1 and 2' episode of 'Little House on the Prairie,' September 1979.NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images (NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images)

“The beautiful Vanity Fair magazine did this huge TV issue where they did TV's best moms, TV's best dads… all the categories. And then I flip through the pages and there's a category that just says 'bitches.' And I'm number one."

In case you're curious, the rest of the rankings were as follows:

Joan Collins (Dynasty)

Heather Locklear (Melrose Place)

Betty White (The Mary Tyler Moore Show)

Jane Wyman (Falcon Crest)

Eileen Fulton (As the World Turns)

Long before that ranking, however, fans had already given her a nickname.

“They started calling me the prairie bitch some years ago. I was about, yay, 12. I mean, yelling it out of windows and cars,” Arngrim recalled. “And I went, well, I guess that's how this is going to be. And I just kind of went with it… And so I've been proudly the prairie bitch ever since.”

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The role of Nellie Oleson—which Arngrim landed at age 11 (she turned 12 shortly after filming began) after originally auditioning for Laura and Mary—turned her into one of television’s most memorable villains. But off-screen, she says the contrast can surprise people.

“And my friends and fans come up to me, and they go, ‘Well, you were nice!’ I know it actually does happen occasionally," said Arngrim.

In fact, Arngrim has long said playing such an over-the-top antagonist was cathartic.

“It was very cleansing,” she said of portraying Nellie during her teenage years. “All the bad stuff was out. I got all the bad stuff out. It was great.”

Decades later, Arngrim has transformed that “girl you love to hate” fame into a successful second act that includes a best-selling memoir titled "Confessions of a Prairie B*tch: How I Survived Nellie Oleson and Learned to Love Being Hated," live comedy shows and the official 50th anniversary Little House podcast.

But one thing hasn’t changed: she’s still perfectly happy being remembered as Walnut Grove’s most notorious mean girl.

After all, as the ranking proves—she was No. 1.

This story was originally published by Parade on Feb 24, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”