Steve Howey‘s TV moms sure got an eyeful when they tuned into the Shameless premiere in 2011.
Though Reba McEntire admitted they did not keep up with the entire show, she and Melissa Peterman certainly caught the gist when they tuned into the pilot episode.
“I’ll never forget us coming to work,” McEntire told Entertainment Tonight on the set of her new sitcom Happy’s Place, where Howey will be making a special appearance. “‘Did you see Steve last night?’ ‘Yes I did.’”
She then mimicked herself covering her eyes in shock. “‘Oh! Oh my gosh,’” she said.
Peterman appeared similarly surprised by Howey’s nude scenes. “I said, ‘You need to warn us if there’s gonna be some unclothing happening in Shameless because you’re like our brother!'” she said. “It was too much!”
She added, “I then did watch it later after I washed my eyes out. Because you’re so good on it.”
Happy’s Place marks the first time the stars have reunited since Reba left the air in 2007. McEntire played a suburban mother whose life gets turned upside down after she learns her husband is having an affair with his peppy dental hygienist, played by Peterman. But the Hart family drama only gets worse when Reba’s teenage daughter, Cheyenne, reveals she got pregnant by her quarterback boyfriend, played by Howey.
Howey acknowledged that Shameless viewers certainly saw a lot of him on the Showtime show.
“That’s why I started working out, ‘cause I was naked all the time,” he said.
Now, Howey is set to join his former TV moms on their new sitcom, which stars McEntire as a woman who learns she has a much younger sister after inheriting her father’s failing bar.
Now that he’s joined the cast, Howey joked that his shirt may not be staying on at Happy’s Place. “I don’t know. We might have some rewrites,” he said.
Peterman, on the other hand, vowed to “give America what it wants.”
“You’re gonna take your shirt off at some point,” she told her co-star.
Happy’s Place recently premiered on NBC, with new episodes airing Fridays at 8/7c. It is now streaming on Peacock.