In between filming their onscreen reunion for Happy’s Place, former Reba costars Melissa Peterman and JoAnna Garcia Swisher found a way to pass the time — which included prank calling Steve Howey.
“It was awesome, perfect and fabulous [to work together again]. It was like no time had passed,” Peterman, 54, exclusively told Us Weekly about the upcoming episode of the hit NBC sitcom. “We talked a lot [and we were] told to be quiet because we had to actually rehearse.”
Peterman teased how her and Swisher, 46, even found the time to “prank call” Howey, 48, adding, “We just laughed a lot. It was so fun to introduce my [Reba TV family] to my Happy’s Place family. They all really embraced her as well.”
NBC confirmed in September 2025 that Swisher is set to play a local Knoxville influencer named Kenzie in an upcoming episode, which is set to air on March 13. Her character “has been hired to represent Happy’s Place for their upcoming social media marketing campaign and all of it is much to Bobbie’s chagrin,” according to the official character description.
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Swisher is the third Reba alum to make an appearance on Reba McEntire and Peterman’s hit sitcom, which debuted more than 17 years after their hit series Reba ended its six-year run on The WB. Reba also starred Christopher Rich and Steve Howey, both of whom have made Happy’s Place cameos already. (Their other Reba costars Scarlett Pomers and Mitch Holleman have yet to appear on the NBC sitcom.)
“I cannot wait to go shake it up over there with them,” Swisher told Us in July 2025. “Steve Howey has already done it, and Chris Rich has done it.”
The actress continued: “This is my family. We are all so very close, but getting the opportunity to slide back into a sitcom stage with all of them would be so exciting. I would not be surprised if that was in the very near future.”
Peterman, for her part, previously joked that she had a different role in mind for Garcia.
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“One thing that I kind of had pitched to the writers was when we knew we were going to get JoAnna Garcia back,” Peterman shared with Us in December 2025. “I thought that maybe she was a surrogate that Gabby went to but she had been conning me the whole time.”
Peterman enjoyed the idea of a more antagonistic onscreen relationship with Swisher.
“She would just take my money and pretend to be pregnant but never did it,” she joked. “So, that was my one pitch that I thought could be really funny. But in hindsight, what JoAnna had come to do was hilarious.”
After Us suggested to Peterman that she and McEntire should join Swisher’s hit Netflix series Sweet Magnolias next, she replied, “Yes please. I feel like I put that out to JoAnna before. That would be so much fun.”
Happy’s Place airs on NBC Fridays at 8 p.m. ET before streaming the next day on Peacock.
