Chris Williams, who plays Wilhelldiva Hater (the drag queen parody of Wilhelmina Slater), is Vanessa Williams' brother.
Salma Hayek enjoyed being on set so much that she took advantage of her producer role to get the part of Sofia Reyes.
Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani-born, internationally known advocate for the rights of women and girls and (as of 2022) the youngest person ever to be awarded a Nobel Peace Prize, has said in several interviews that Ugly Betty was an early and important influence on her development as a feminist. In her autobiography I Am Malala, she wrote, "My father wanted me to improve my English. So he encouraged me to watch a DVD that one of the journalists in Islamabad had given me: a TV program called Ugly Betty. I loved Betty, with her big braces and her big heart. I was in awe watching her and her friends as they walked freely down the streets of New York--with no veils covering their faces and no need for men to company them. My favorite part, though, was seeing Betty's father cook for her instead of vice versa!"
Mark's name in "Fake Plastic Snow" is Mark Saint-James, but in "Don't Ask Don't Tell," his name is Mark Weiner. (From a deleted scene from "Don't Ask Don't Tell," Betty asks Marc: "Your real name is Weiner?" Marc answers: "I had to change it. A gay kid named Weiner? I wanted to beat myself up.")
The pearl "B" necklace Betty wears is a replica of the famous necklace worn by Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII's 2nd wife and mother of Elizabeth I.