Country legend Reba McEntire helmed the popular show from 2001 to 2007.

‘Reba’ cast photo in 2001. PHOTO: 

FOX TELEVISION / COURTESY EVERETT

Back in 2001, Reba McEntire went from singing on our radios to making us laugh on TV screens weekly as the lead of her eponymous sitcom.

Reba followed the ups and downs of single mom Reba Hart — “who works two jobs, who loves her kids and never stops” — as she navigated her chaotic family through the ever-changing dynamics. Between co-parenting with her ex-husband, making nice with his new wife, managing her daughter’s teen pregnancy and everything in between, the show was an easy hub for laughs and became an instant hit.

However, it was canceled in 2007, following The WB’s merger with UPN, which formed The CW.

Over the years, fans of the show have often asked the country singer about a reboot — and she has revealed she’d be open to doing it again.

“We’ve really been trying hard,” McEntire said while on The Bobby Bones Show in September 2022, Billboard reported. “I really want to work with the people that I got to work with during that six-and-a-half years. It was fun, the cast, the crew, everybody we got to work with and play with, they were wonderful people. We wanted to get back together like a reunion and have fun. So, hopefully, that will happen one day.”
Now, as new audiences are being introduced to the show via Netflix, find out what the main cast of Reba has been up since the show went off air.

Reba McEntire as Reba Hart

Reba McEntire on Reba in 2001 and in 2024.GREG SCHWARTZ/FOX TELEVIS

Leading the show was Reba McEntire, who had long been a country musician before the series premiered in 2001. And while she was at ease playing sold-out arenas, she admitted while on The Ellen DeGeneres Show that acting was a bit of a learning curve.

“The memorization is hard for me cause it’s a new script every week. When I was singing, it rhymed, had a melody to it and none of these [lines] do,” she joked.

After the show went off air, McEntire went back to her music career. She released albums Love Revival, Keep on Loving You and All the Women That I Am in 2008, 2009 and 2010, respectively, and continued to tour.

The country legend, 69, shows no signs of slowing down. Earlier this month, she hosted the Academy of Country Music Awards for a whopping 17th time and continued her work as a mentor on The Voice. It was also announced that the Oklahoma native will be heading back to the small screen sometime this year, playing the lead in an NBC sitcom titled Happy Place.

McEntire has also found success in her private life and has been happily in love with fellow actor Rex Linn since 2020. She has one grown son, Shelby, with ex-husband Narvel Blackstock.

Christopher Rich as Brock Hart

Christopher Rich on Reba in 2001 and in 2019.20TH CENTURY FOX TV / ALBUM; AMY SUSSMAN/GETTY

Playing Reba’s ex-husband in the show was Christopher Rich, who also had a steady career before landing the role of Brock Hart.

Prior to appearing on Reba, he had acting credits in classics such as Another World, The Charmings, The George Carlin Show, Murphy Brown and more. Post-Reba, Rich went made several appearances on Boston Legal, Desperate Housewives, Melissa & Joey and several other shows.

His last acting credit was in 2021’s Spiked.

According to IMDb, he has been married to wife Eva Halina Rich since June 2000 and they have two daughters together. He is also dad to another daughter from his previous marriage to Nancy Frangione.

Melissa Peterman as Barbra Jean Booker Hart

Melissa Peterman on Reba in 2001 and in 2024.20TH CENTURY FOX TV / ALBUM; LEON BENNETT/GETTY

These days, people might recognize Melissa Peterman as Brenda Sparks from Young Sheldon. However, before she lent her comedic chops to the hit CBS show, she played Brock’s dim-witted, albeit big-hearted new wife, Barbra Jean Hart, on Reba.

In the years that followed, she starred in Pretty the Series, Baby Daddy and made several appearances on other shows. Peterman will also be reuniting with McEntire in Happy Place.

In real life, Peterman has been married to her husband John Brady since 1999. The couple has a son named Riley David, whom they welcomed in 2005.

JoAnna Garcia Swisher as Cheyenne Hart-Montgomery

JoAnna Garcia on Reba in 2001 and in 2023.20TH CENTURY FOX TV / ALBUM; ARTURO HOLMES/GETTY

You may have seen JoAnna Garcia Swisher in shows such as Freaks and Geeks, Party of Five and Are You Afraid of the Dark?, but the actress truly broke through as Cheyenne Hart, Reba’s eldest daughter who ultimately raised a baby with her high school boyfriend turned husband, Van Montgomery.

After Reba, Garcia Swisher continued working, landing roles on Privileged, Gossip Girl, Better with You, The Mindy Project, The Astronauts Wives Club and many more. She is currently starring as Maddie Townsend on Netflix’s Sweet Magnolias.

The actress married her husband, former New York Yankees player Nick Swisher, in 2010. They welcomed their first daughter Emerson Jay Swisher on May 21, 2013 and followed up with their second girl, Sailor Stevie Swisher, on June 28, 2016.