Actor James Denton felt "really uncomfortable" testifying in court against his former Desperate Housewives co-star Nicollette Sheridan and he is happy that what he said on the witness stand neither "helped or hurt" either side in the ongoing trial.
Sheridan claims she was fired after complaining to network executives about an incident she'd had with series creator Marc Cherry in 2008, which ended with the writer/producer hitting the actress on the head to demonstrate an action in a scene.
Denton took the stand in the wrongful dismissal trial on Thursday (08Mar12) and told the court that he wasn't at all surprised when he heard Sheridan's character Edie Britt would be axed, stating, "People get killed off so often."
The actor, who plays Teri Hatcher's onscreen husband Mike Delfino on the show, was also expected to recall his own onset experience with Cherry's "physical" style of directing, but he never got the chance - and Denton admits he's glad his testimony "wasn't much help" to the defence or the plaintiff.
Speaking on U.S. talk show The View on Monday (12Mar12), he said, "It was really uncomfortable because when you say (he testified) on behalf of Marc and the producers, I didn't see it that way at all.
"He wanted me to come in and tell a story, which was a nice illustration of how things work on our set and I said, 'You know what, it's the truth and I'll just tell the truth'.
"I ended up not even getting the story out, because the other attorney kept objecting, objecting, objecting, so I wasn't much help to anybody, which is OK with me, I don't think I helped or hurt."
Denton went on to recall the story about a scene, in which his character attended a strip club: "I wasn't doing it in a funny way so Marc comes over and pushes me aside... He acted it out and he touched me and was very physical and he knew what he wanted..."
But Denton refused to be drawn on whether or not he believes Sheridan's account of her onset spat with Cherry - or whether the fall-out may have resulted in her firing. When pressed by The View co-host Barbara Walters, he replied, "Obviously I'm gonna stay out of that. My point was Marc is very hands on. He directs very physically."
No other castmembers are expected to testify. The trial continues.
Denton's appearance on The View came the morning after his character, Delfino, was killed off.