Showrunner Sheryl J. Anderson promises much more of what we love about Sweet Magnolias; more “romance, drama, and relationship angst. I can tell everyone that there will be all of that and more,” Anderson exclusively tells Parade.com. “There will be some big questions answered, some big questions asked for the first time, and all the humor, passion, laughter and tears, and Margaritas that you have come to count on!” Acknowledging all of the cliffhangers and relationship drama that took place in Season 2, Anderson added, “We deeply appreciate how invested people are in the various relationships on the show. I want people to feel that people in Serenity are like the people who live next door, across the street, or down the street from them.” What the series does so well, Anderson says is to, “provide comfort and support. It tells our viewers that they are not alone—all of these are important messages!” Sweet Magnolias centers around three best friends, (Maddie, Helen, and Dana Sue), who were born and raised in picturesque Serenity, South Carolina, a small southern town where everybody knows one another, as well as each other’s business. There are often wagging tongues, prying eyes, and meddlesome neighbors, but there is also a great deal of love and concern for one another during both tragedies and triumphs. The three BFFs are able to lift each other up as they juggle romance, relationships, careers, and family matters in their charming town. Anderson believes that fans around the world continue to remain so invested in the show because of the universal themes that they can relate to in their own lives. “When we first started the show, I saw Sweet Magnolias as a testament to the power of female friendship,” Anderson explains. “Over time, I have come to see it as showing the power of community. You can sit with the folks of Serenity and find comfort, especially during the pandemic, when you miss and can’t see your loved ones. We hope that when the pandemic ends, the love for Serenity will continue.” The heart-felt and family-friendly show’s recipe for success includes its exploration of the universal themes of new love, romance, heartbreak, betrayal, family angst, small-town gossip, and the beloved best friends who keep us sane through all of this. In the same way that the chicken pot pie and the other comfort food served at Dana Sue’s Sullivan’s restaurant soothes her customers, Sweet Magnolias continues to provide its viewers with delightful, satisfying, and scrumptious morsels to tempt everyone’s tastebuds.
Who is in Sweet Magnolias cast for Season 3?
JoAnna Garcia Swisher (Maddie Townsend), Heather Headley (Helen Decatur), and Brooke Elliott (Dana Sue Sullivan) are set to reprise their roles when filming begins. For Anderson, coming back to the set to see the three leading ladies, as well as the rest of the cast and crew, “feels like a big family reunion. Everybody is gathered for the reason of pooling the gift of this show that we have been given and to contribute something memorable to our viewers.”
Who is the creative team behind Sweet Magnolias?
Showrunner/executive producer Anderson remains on the series and is joined by executive producers Daniel Paulson and Sherryl Woods, who is also the best-selling author of the fan-favorite Sweet Magnolias series of 11 romance novels from MIRA Books, an imprint of Harlequin. Woods is also the author of the popular Chesapeake Shores series. Keep reading for everything you need to know to get ready for “the warm hug” that will be Sweet Magnolias Season 3.
Has the cast of Sweet Magnolias started filming Season 3?
Anderson says they are not back on the set filming, and right now mum’s the word, as to when they will return. Stay tuned for more.
When does Sweet Magnolias Season 3 premiere?
A release date has not been announced by Netflix. Check back for updates.
What happened in Season 2 of Sweet Magnolias?
There were plenty of surprises in the second season. “As Season 2 opens, Maddie, Helen, and Dana Sue learn who is in the car. But that’s just the first of many surprises that come out of Prom Night—surprises that reshape relationships all over town,” a Netflix press release revealed. “Friendships flounder. Old loves end and new loves begin. Long-hidden secrets disrupt jobs, change lives, and shift the balance of power in Serenity. Everyone is affected. But in laughter and in loss, the Sweet Magnolias continue to fight for what is right for themselves and the people they love—even when those efforts come with a high price tag.” The season begins with the death of Miss Frances (Cindy Karr), a beloved member of the two and friend of Maddie, Helen, and Dana Sue, who sold her stately home to the three friends so they could turn it into the Corner Spa. Miss Frances left specific instructions for her “celebration of life.” Her passing also brought her nephew Ryan back to town and gave Ryan (Michael Shenefelt) and Helen another chance at rekindling their relationship when Ryan asks Helen to marry him. This further complicates Helen’s life because she is pursuing infertility treatment and a relationship with close friend Erik, all of this coming after a devastating miscarriage. Noreen (Jamie Lynn Spears) decides to come back to live in Serenity to have her baby and shares Isaac’s comfortable home. After her baby girl is born – at the same hospital as Maddie’s three children – Bill offers support, but it is clear he is not going to be a major part of this new family. Nadine’s parents try to convince Nadine to bring the baby to their home, but she insists on staying in Serenity after the townspeople, including Maddie and her three children, shower her with love and affection. Newcomer Isaac, who came to Serenity to find his birth mother, finds out that as a teen mom Peggy Martin (Brittany L. Smith) put him up for adoption at birth. While she wants to explore a relationship with her son, her introduction of Isaac to his birth father, Bill Townsend (Chris Klein), did not go as smoothly - leaving Isaac with more questions than answers. Bill subsequently tells Maddie that Isaac is his son and it stirs emotional feelings from his infidelity with Noreen. Maddie and Cal’s romance is going well when it is derailed by the meddling Mary Vaughn and her husband’s zoning restrictions that jeopardize the stability of The Corner Spa. When Maddie, Helen, and Dana Sue refuse to back down in the town recall of the mayor (Mary Vaugh’s husband), the spiteful Mary Vaughn pushes back, helps get Cal fired from his coaching job, and this is just the beginning of the downfall for our favorite couple. In the Season 2 finale, Cal’s temper flares and appears, and Maddie questions if she really knows this man and whether or not they can repair their budding relationship. When it comes to Cal’s anger issues, and how it affects Maddie and Cal’s relationship, fans have been outspoken about their concerns going forward. “I know that it can be upsetting when people that we love make less than great choices,” Anderson explains. “We have said from day one that one of the biggest strengths of Serenity is that no one in this town is beyond redemption. People make mistakes. And that’s the beauty of community, that you are surrounded by people who love you and want the best for you.” Overall, with all of this upheaval and more, Serenity ended the season on a not so serene note and with dozens of questions to be answered in Season 3. Anderson says “I won’t even give spoilers to my own brother. It’s like finding your Christmas presents before Thanksgiving, you will be crushed that you didn’t have anything to look forward to. It’s better to experience it with the actors.”
What is Sweet Magnolias about?
At its core, it’s about female friendship. “I think there have been other terrific shows about female friendship and about romance,” explains Anderson, “but I think chef Dana Sue would tell you we figured out the exact proportions to focus on a deep and abiding friendship that has lasted their entire lives–seasoned with romances, pinches of teen angst and a lovely icing of hot men.” “To be able to be genuinely invested in the power of women coming together in joy and heartbreak, and to be able to dig down into what it means to be a true friend and a good neighbor–especially during our fractured times—was a joy,” she says. “And another thing that makes our show different is that everyone had such a good time making it. I am making a show that I am passionate about; that speaks to subjects and themes that are incredibly important to me and doing it with people I respect and adore. There are so many blessings in that package that I continue to unwrap with great joy.” Who is in the Sweet Magnolias cast?
JoAnna Garcia Swisher (Maddie Townsend)
A Florida native, Garcia Swisher is best known for playing Reba McEntire’s daughter Cheyenne Hart-Montgomery in the popular sitcom Reba from 2001 to 2007. She also starred in TV’s Freaks and Geeks, Animal Practice, Once Upon a Time, and The Astronaut Wives Club. She is the mother of two young children and happily married to former Major League baseball player Nick Swisher. The couple is involved in a family philanthropic foundation and has traveled to Afghanistan on a USO tour to greet troops and tour military facilities. Maddie, is a newly divorced single working mom, with a lot on her plate. While juggling her duties at the Corner Spa, caring for three children, and finding romance—her vibrant Act 2. What does Swisher appreciate about her character? “Maddie has got a little feistiness to her,” she tells Parade.com. “I think that she runs a tight ship. I love that she’s not going to let her hardships bring her down,” she continues. “What I look forward to seeing, hopefully, are the realizations and putting the pieces back together. Really pushing through where her life is and where it’s headed. She’s not a victim by any stretch of the imagination” When asked about Maddie’s divorce, family angst, and romance with Coach Cal, a pivotal aspect of the show, Swisher sees her character’s issues as important life lessons for all of us, “Obviously, I have not experienced at all what my character went through. But the idea that you can be so wholly dedicated to your family and sometimes lose sight of all the other things that are really important, that’s one of the things I really wanted to celebrate this year with Maddie’s journey. And really allowing herself to maybe let go a little bit. Maddie was forced to let go, and grapple with forgiveness and really the idea of how that makes you feel. It’s a bitter pill sometimes to swallow but sometimes in a selfish way, it makes you feel better to not hold onto things and let go. I think she allowed herself to do that a little bit more in Season 2. I was really excited to lean into that. But the smooth sailing doesn’t last for long.”
Brooke Elliott (Dana Sue Sullivan)
Elliott is an actress and a singer with a strong background in musical theater, including the U.S. tours of Beauty and the Beast, Wicked, and the Broadway productions of Taboo and The Pirate Queen. Before Sweet Magnolias, she was best known for her role as Jane Bingum on Lifetime’s Drop Dead Diva. “I think Dana Sue is just fantastic,” Elliott says. “I think she is so complex, she’s got so much going on, as so many of us do. I love that she has things to still learn.” And she loves her struggles. “Dana Sue kind of goes through it in Season 1. She’s going through a lot and she has some defenses going on. She has some black and white thinking for sure.” She adds, “I think she’s funny and strong, and I think she’s trying. There is so much I love about her.” But she sways from Dana in a few ways. “I do have a little more understanding of the nuance in life, so I’m not as hard-liner-drawing as Dana, but I love as fiercely as she does, and I feel like I work as hard and I am as committed as she is to the things in her life, and the things that she is working for and that are important to her.”
Heather Headley (Helen Decatur)
Devoted mom and Trinidad native, Headley is a singer, songwriter, record producer, and multi-award-winning actress. She won the 2000 Tony Award for best actress in a musical for her role as Aida. She also won the 2010 Grammy Award for best contemporary R&B Gospel Album for her album Audience of One. Before Sweet Magnolias, she was best known for her role as Gwen Garrett on NBC’s Chicago Med. “Sometimes we go into these projects and you are kind of aware, you’re hoping, ‘I’ll get to play her again,’ says Headley. “But you still want to make sure that you like your character and you can stand behind her, so I did like her from the beginning.” Headley says that she used her experience onstage to inform her Sweet Magnolias performance. “I think she’s a little bit of all my favorite girls that I’ve had to play. She’s a lot of Aida and a little bit of Nala. She’s kind of got all these people. And I know that she’s got a lot of Heather in her, or I have a lot of Helen in me.” She can also relate to Helen’s yearning to be a parent and the roller coaster of Helen’s fertility issues and miscarriage in Season 2, which prominently featured and cemented the already strong bonds between the three best friends. “We now have three children, but I remember a time when there was the struggle of having a baby, and how that is, and how painful that is,” Headley reveals to Parade.com. “There’s a point where we kind of go through our careers and we’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, I did my career, this is so great.’…And everything else you’ve worked for and you’ve gotten, it’s been easy, like Helen’s law degree or me with music. You’ve worked for it, you’ve achieved it, and this is the one thing that it’s kind of right beyond your fingertips and you can’t catch it. I understand that pain or that hurt for Helen, especially with time kind of passing. So, yes, I feel like there’s a lot there that I can commiserate and celebrate with her.” Dana Sue Sullivan (Brooke Elliott)
Chris Klein (Bill Townsend)
Klein, best known for his TV and film roles in Election, American Pie, and The Flash, says that this show is “from a performer standpoint what you hope for. It happened for us for Season 1 and the bar is really high now for Season 2 and beyond. Now we’ve got to match and exceed everyone’s expectations. We all saw there is the potential to build something awesome. This turned out to be a really cool product.” He said that while he knows the fans often see his character, Bill, (Maddie’s ex-husband) as the bad guy, he told Parade.com, that his practice is “not to pass judgment; that’s the audience’s part.” He acknowledged that “People feel complicated about how to feel about Bill from the beginning — is he bad or good? But I say that he is human. I would say that Bill has a long way to go. These are his choices and we are going to watch these choices. As a husband and new father, it was really interesting to explore all of this through the lends of Sweet Magnolias. I cannot say enough about JoAnna Garcia Swisher as a person and as a performer.”
Justin Bruening (Coach Cal Maddox)
Bruening is a retired pro baseball player who comes to Serenity as a bit of a celebrity to coach the high school ball team to victory. Along the way, he and Maddie become good friends, during the tumult of her divorce, and a romance begins to bloom. Just as we are rooting for them in Season 2, twists and turns for Coach Cal, including re-surfacing anger issues that threaten his personal and professional life, and we are left wondering what is in store for Coach Cal and his love interest, Maddie. A Nebraska native and father of three, Bruening is a former fashion model who was discovered by a scout at a McDonald’s in Escondido, California. His acting career began when he was cast in the role of Jamie Martin on the daytime soap All My Children, which earned him a 2005 Soap Opera Digest Award. This was followed by his role as Mike Traceur in the Knight Rider series, which was followed by roles in Ringer and Ravenswood.
Jamie Lynn Spears (Noreen Fitzgibbons)
An actress and singer, Spears, is best known for her role as Zoey Brooks in the Nickelodeon sitcom Zoey 101. The younger sister of pop icon Britney Spears, and doting mother of two daughters, has gone on to have a burgeoning singing and acting career. In Sweet Magnolias she plays Noreen, a new mom who moved back to Serenity after breaking up with her fiance Bill Townsend, (Maddie’s ex-husband). Initially, she was seen as the “villain” who helped break up Maddie and Bill’s marriage and not-so-perfect family, but in Season 2 she was embraced by most of the town, including Maddie and her three children.
Among the other actors returning for Season 3 of Sweet Magnolias are:
Logan Allen (Kyle Townsend)
Anneliese Judge (Annie Sullivan)
Carson Rowland (Tyler “Ty” Townsend)
Bianca Berry Tarantino (Katie Townsend)
Chris Medlin (Isaac Downey)
Brandon Quinn (Ronnie Sullivan)
Sam Ashby (Jackson Lewis)
Brittany L. Smith (Peggy Martin)
Hunter Burke (Trotter Vidhyarkorn)
Allison Gabriel (Mary Vaughn)
Are there any Sweet Magnolias Season 2 cliffhangers we need to have resolved in Season 3?
Amid the looming questions (and cliffhangers) for Season 3 are: What will happen with Maddie and Cal’s romance now that he was arrested right before the big cliffhanger for punching a rowdy Sullivan’s customer. Or was he merely trying to protect Maddie from the guy and his anger got the best of him? How is Helen going to pursue her motherhood dreams and is her personal life going to include longtime love Ryan (Michael Shenefelt) or new love, Erik (Dion Johnstone), Dana Sue’s right arm at Sullivan’s? What will happen with Erik and Helen? Will Dana Sue and Ronnie’s rekindled relationship lead to happily ever after, or are there more bumps in the road for them as a couple and as a family with their teen daughter, Annie?
What does Sweet Magnolias author Sherryl Woods enjoy about her books?
Woods exclusively tells Parade.com that among of the things she loves about writing the Sweet Magnolias series, “is that all of the characters throughout the book at some point or another confront who they see themselves and who they want to be, and look at ways to get there. They each dig below whatever the trial of the moment is to look at that depth of understanding and compassion that we all really should be living our lives by.”
Where is the series Sweet Magnolias filmed? Is it an actual town that I can visit?
While Sweet Magnolias is set in the fictional small town of Serenity, South Carolina, a majority of the series is filmed in Covington, Georgia, where The Vampire Diaries was also filmed. “It is a fabulous town because it has a great look and they are also very film-friendly and film-knowledgeable,” says showrunner/executive producer Anderson. “They have a Sweet Magnolias walking tour and people are delighted to see the Spa, and its original signage and shrubbery, which is actually a law firm. That small-town charm goes back to that feeling of community.”
How to watch and stream Sweet Magnolias Seasons 1 and 2?
Sweet Magnolias is available to stream exclusively on Netflix. All Season 1 and 2 episodes are available to stream there now. Until Sweet Magnolias Season 3, get the latest on Virgin River!
