Sara Gilbert played Leslie Winkle, a scientist friend of Leonard Hofstadter, in The Big Bang Theory from 2007-2010 and was later elevated to part of the main cast. She played a potential love interest for Johnny Galecki's character and also dated Howard Wolowitz.
However, her character was eventually reduced to a recurring role and then disappeared entirely when other characters became more popular. Gilbert enjoyed working on TBBT despite having previously dated Galecki while they both starred on Roseanne together. Fans speculate that their close friendship and prior work with TBBT creator Chuck Lorre influenced Gilbert's decision to take the role.
