'Hellcats' stars praise Tom Welling

The stars of new CW drama Hellcats have praised executive producer and Smallville actor Tom Welling.

Aly Michalka (Marti Perkins) told Fancast that she can relate to Welling.

"Tom is super hands-on," she claimed. "He was so encouraging to us as a cast. And being the lead of his own show, he told me what I have to come in the future. It was cool to relate to him on that level."

Her co-star Matt Barr (Dan Patch) admitted that he had expected Welling to play a smaller role in the show's production.

"I thought he might be back in the shadows, watching the monitor," he confessed. "But he was out there blowing the whistle, giving us notes! He really kind of quarterbacked the whole thing. Tom was a great mentor."

Hellcats airs on Wednesdays at 9/8c on The CW.