With Sweet Magnolias being a romantic drama, all of its characters older than Maddie’s little daughter Katie have always been either in a relationship or in a pursuit of one. With one exception, Isaac (Chris Medlin), the young inspiring chef who came to Serenity in search of his birth parents.

For his first three seasons on the show, his sexuality was not addressed, with his only relationship being a platonic one when he took in Noreen and her baby daughter after she left the father of her baby, Bill, who also turned out to be Issac’s birth father.

In Season 4, Isaac’s paternity secret was made public, creating a fracture in his friendship with Noreen and others who were shocked by the news. It also brought a love interest for him as a former schoolmate of his, Michael, came to Serenity to do a storm damage estimate.

After a couple of encounters and a cheesy and sweet food pun, the two went on a date.

In an interview with Deadline, which you can read in full here, Sweet Magnolias showrunner Sheryl J. Anderson explained why she and her writing team decided to reveal Isaac’s sexuality now by introducing a boyfriend for him.

“He wasn’t interested in dating until he was comfortable with who he was in Serenity,” she said. “So now that everybody — well, anybody who’s interested, but everybody who matters to him — understands his whole story, he was comfortable, and he was open, and a man from his past walked in the door.”

Anderson kept it coy whether Michael, played by Kyle Findley, would be back and whether his and Isaac’s love story would continue if Sweet Magnolias gets a fifth season.

“I look forward to the chance and the hope of being able to ponder what happens next,” she said.

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