Reba McEntire is thankful that Happy’s Place allowed her to reunite with her former onscreen husband Christopher Rich after his massive stroke.
“To bring Chris back in [after Reba], that was the most special to the producers — Kevin Abbott and Mindy Schultheis and Michael Hanel. They were all from the Reba sitcom,” McEntire, 70, quipped during an exclusive interview with Us Weekly in Nashville while filming a series of sitcom-inspired ads for Realtor.com’s “Nearly Home” campaign.
McEntire recalled how important it was for them — and for Rich — to be on set together again.
“To bring Chris back in after his stroke, it really made a difference in his life,” she noted. “He got to come back to the work that he loved so much around the people that he loves so much. And we all love him. It’s been a huge blessing for all of us.”
McEntire and Rich, 71, both appeared on The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw before reuniting when Reba aired from 2001 to 2007. The hit show followed a single mom who had to start over after her husband, Brock (Rich), left her for his dental hygienist, Barbra Jean (Melissa Peterman). Reba (Reba McEntire) attempted to start fresh while raising her kids — including her pregnant teen daughter (JoAnna Garcia Swisher) and her boyfriend (Steve Howey).
Two decades later, McEntire and Peterman, 53, reunited on NBC’s Happy’s Place, which paved the way for them to work with Rich and Howey, 47, again as well.
“It is so gratifying. We’re so thankful and grateful. [I get to work] with Rex Linn, my boyfriend and Melissa who I’ve worked with before [on Reba] and have known her since 2001,” McEntire told Us. “Then having Belissa [Escobedo], Tokala [Black Elk] and Pablo [Castelblanco] as the other cast members — we’re all so different. It’s an eclectic group that is so much fun getting everybody together. We learn from each other and we feed off each other. They’re great actors and we just had the best time. We can’t wait to go back and start working on season 2.”
Rich’s episode in February held extra significance after he stepped away from acting for several years following a massive stroke.
“I liked that they let me call [Reba’s character Bobbie] Red at one point. That’s what I called her on the show,” Rich exclusively told Us about Brock’s reference to Reba on the hit sitcom. “Frequently, those little things are magnificent. And Reba [the show] has such a wonderful following that people will comment about it online. It was just so wonderful to work with those two women. They took such good care of me and they were very, very protective.”
McEntire is excited for even more possible cameos in season 2. She also teased how Happy’s Place can evolve in its sophomore season.
“In the first season we were saying, ‘Why aren’t we telling them this?’ And then Kevin Abbott — our showrunner — would go, ‘Patience. We’ve got to give them a little bit at a time.’ So fans want something to happen but if it happens too soon, it’s like, ‘Then what are we going to wish for?'” McEntire recalled. “They’ve got so many great stories ready to break and they have come up with so many story lines.”
She continued: “I love to listen to a pitch for a new story because I’m fascinated how they come up with it. I haven’t heard what comes next yet but I’ve got all the faith in the world in them that that’ll be good.”
While McEntire awaits her return to set, she found time to channel her realtor roots from her Reba sitcom days Realtor.com’s “Nearly Home” campaign.
“Isn’t that funny that I’m doing this commercial and I was a realtor on Reba? It’s really fitting and I walked into it perfectly,” she told Us. “When [my friend] Dolly [Parton] was there [on an episode of the Reba sitcom with me], that makes it even more special doing this. It brings back memories with [Steve Howey’s character] Van, who was my son-in-law. He was also my partner in our real estate business.”
McEntire was thrilled to get the chance to help make the home buying and selling process more accessible for people looking for their next house.
“What is so neat about Realtor.com is that you can just get on the app. They’ve got over a half a million new listings every month. I didn’t know about Realtor.com when I moved to Nashville,” she explained. “So in the last 10 years, I’ve had to look for a new home. I wished I’d have had it then.”
McEntire continued: “I love my realtor but I wish I’d have had Realtor.com because that way you could look at the listings and really dive into it.”
