Beverly Hills, 90210 fans erupt in scorn as star says she LIED about her age to play a 16-year-old

Beverly Hills, 90210 star Gabrielle Carteris earned a withering response from fans for candidly discussing the web of deceit she wove to make her way onto the show.

She was 29 years old when she auditioned for the role of 16-year-old high school girl Andrea Zuckerman on the hit 1990s series.

In order to bolster her chances of securing the job, she pretended to be 21 - a gambit that paid off and landed Carteris what remains her best-known part.

When the show proved a success, the cast of teen idols fell under a degree of public scrutiny that led to the truth about Carteris leaking.

Now 65, she recounted the story on the podcast Still Here Hollywood - and was mercilessly savaged by the commenters on an Instagram clip.

'She auditioned to be on Golden Girls the same day as 90210. Betty White got her part,' one joked as another recalled: 'She looked like she was 40 years old on 90210. Thought she played a teacher or parent.'

'By season 4 she looked her age and her character read more like everyone's great aunt making stews in her apartment than a 19 year old college student,' one wrote. 

'Jesus. Lied we all knew she was 40 trying to play an 18 year old and we made fun of it then. Terrible casting,' another grumbled.

'I'm sorry. Everybody knew she was 30. Luke Perry was old, too, but does she really think we didn't know? Who's going to tell her?' snorted yet another. 

Others shared reactions like: 'lol we all knew she was older but didn’t care,' and: 'I mean she looked so much older than the rest of the cast.'

During her podcast appearance, Carteris reflected that she had 'been at work where, you know, you look too old, you look too young. It's never just about necessarily the quality, or hasn't been about the quality of my work.'

She remembered that she 'ran away from my age so early, because I always looked young. And that was the thing I didn't tell the truth about when I got 90210, so now I'm past that time and I'm gonna say: "Yes, I'm 65."'

Created by Darren Star, who went on to mastermind such hit shows as Sex and the City and Emily in Paris, the show made stars out of a cast.

Jason Priestley, Tori Spelling, Jennie Garth, Brian Austin Green, Ian Ziering and the late Luke Perry and Shannen Doherty became teen idols on the series.

Nestled among them was Carteris, who had eagle-eyed audience members scratching their heads as to the truth about her age.

'When I got the role, a lawyer told me I could sign a contract and state a different age, as long as it was over the age of 21,' she confessed a few years ago to People.

'When [my real age] did come out, the show was just starting to take off and my character was established enough that they did not fire me. But a producer did say to me: "You’re lucky we didn’t know your age when we hired you."' 

Carteris starred on the first five seasons as Andrea Zuckerman, the egghead of the bunch, and returned in a guest capacity on seasons six, eight and 10.