Though she only appeared in one season of The Andy Griffith Show, many fans of the series still treasure Elinor Donahue‘s performance as Ellie Walker, the pharmacist who won Sheriff Andy Taylor’s heart for a time. In a new interview with Woman’s World, Donahue, now 88, reveals why her tenure on the show was so brief — and weighs on on rumors of bad blood between herself and Griffith.

To Donahue, making the transition from child actor on Father Knows Best to adult love interest on Andy Griffith was difficult: “To be honest, I felt like a bird out of a nest,” the actress revealed. “I didn’t feel like I had all my feathers yet and I didn’t feel capable. It was the strangest feeling.”