JoAnna García Swisher Says Reba McEntire & Christopher Rich 'Stepped In'...

[TMC]

...After She Lost Her Mom and Dad

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/...195823525.html

The 'Sweet Magnolias' star reflected on her bond with her 'Reba' costars

John Russell
Fri, April 11, 2025 at 12:58 PM PDT

JoAnna García Swisher is opening up about her enduring bond with TV parents Reba McEntire and Christopher Rich.

On the most recent episode of Kate and Oliver Hudson's Sibling Revelry podcast, Swisher reflected on what it was like working with McEntire on the country music legend’s early 2000s sitcom Reba.

“She's the best. She is such a incredible human, just, like, just in general,” Swisher, 45, who played McEntire’s daughter in the show, said.

“She's just a girl that has big dreams … And so you see there's like a very real humility, appreciation,” the Sweet Magnolias star continued. “She is such a huge star, and she just still amazes me with her, you know, like, ‘I can't believe this is happening to me’ vibe.”

Nearly two decades after Reba ended its six-season run, Swisher said she’s remained close to her TV family. She mentioned how she recently took her own two daughters to see McEntire perform, and got to hang out with the “Fancy” singer.

“The girls love her so much. She's so good to my girls,” Swisher said. “I just told her, I was like, ‘You know, looking back on all those pictures in that time in my life, I was so lucky to be a working actress on a television show that was beloved, but also, you know, that I had, like, real people that cared about me and made sure I was safe.’ ”

Swisher went so far as to say that McEntire and Rich, who played her father on Reba, “stepped in” to fill the parental void after she lost her own mom and dad. Rich, she said, officiated her 2010 wedding to New York Yankees outfielder Nick Swisher, while McEntire and Melissa Peterman, who played her stepmother in Reba, were bridesmaids.

“When something amazing happens for my kids,” Swisher said, “I send pictures. These are people that genuinely are so excited to, like, see that and be a part of our lives and a part of our world.”

[JO Sweet Heart]

^^^ I didn't know that both of her parents are gone. I pray that Christopher Rich continues to stay well because it was said not too long ago that he suffered a stroke back in 2018.

God bless you and each cast member of Reba's show always!!!

Holly