Young Sheldon EP on the Guest Star They ‘Really Want’ Back for Final Season (and a Potential Reunion)
Will Reba McEntire’s June Ballard return before Young Sheldon ends in May? That’s the hope, according to executive producer Steve Holland.
“We would love to have her back,” the EP tells TVLine, while also acknowledging that there are no firm plans in place just yet. “She’s expressed interest, but she’s very busy. She has another [sitcom] pilot that she’s shooting” — and continues to serve as a coach on NBC’s The Voice — “so I just don’t know if it’s going to work out.”
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When TVLine suggests that it would be an awful shame to end Young Sheldon without having McEntire appear alongside her former Reba co-star Melissa Peterman (who recurs as next-door neighbor Brenda Sparks), Holland replies, “I know! We really want that, and I think she would like it. It’s just a matter of logistics.”
McEntire made her Young Sheldon debut in Season 3, when she was introduced as hairstylist June Ballard, ex-wife of Craig T. Nelson’s Dale. She appeared in six episodes through Season 5 but was unavailable to reprise her role in Season 6 (now streaming on Netflix).
Interestingly, June and Brenda have appeared in the same episode — Season 4’s “A Second Prodigy and the Hottest Tips for Pouty Lips,” in which Brenda received a haircut not unlike Reba Hart — but McEntire and Peterman’s characters still did not cross paths.
“It’s a thing that Melissa reminds us of often,” Holland told us in a previous interview. “She would love to be in scenes with Reba. Part of the reason Reba’s on the show is because she and Melissa are close friends, and Melissa let us know that Reba was a fan.”
Young Sheldon airs Thursdays at 8/7c on CBS (and streams next day on Paramount+). A one-hour series finale (featuring Jim Parsons and Mayim Bialik) is scheduled for May 16, and will be followed next season by a Georgie-and-Mandy spinoff.
Would you like to see Reba McEntire reprise June Ballard before the Big Bang Theory prequel signs off this spring?
Young Sheldon’s Georgie and Mandy Spinoff: Everything We Know
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