“the hair wasn’t real; I wasn’t really Russian, and that exotic flavor was gone; and [viewers found out] that I was married, and they couldn’t fantasize about being with Chekov. Things then started to take a nosedive.”

Walter Koenig · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-26

Koenig said Chekov became less popular because the hair was a wig, he was not really Russian, and viewers learned he was married.