Romance Rewind

Down-Home Romance! Who Did the ‘Reba’ Characters End Up With?

Reba McEntire is all smiles behind the bar at Happy’s Place these days, but it was almost 20 years ago that she was saying goodbye to the series that first made her a bankable TV star.

The country music legend spent six seasons holding her fictional family together on The WB and later The CW’s Reba, a down-home sitcom about a Texas divorcee who is managing the chaos of her family, the remnants of her marriage, and the mistress who wants to be her best friend.

Under Reba’s roof are her eldest daughter, Cheyenne (JoAnna Garcia Swisher), and her football star boyfriend, Van (Steve Howey), who moves in when he’s kicked out of his house when his parents learn they are having a baby in high school. Also, there are her other children, Kyra (Scarlett Pomers) and Jake (Mitch Holleman), and more often than not, her ex-husband, Brock (Christopher Rich), and his new wife, Barbra Jean (Melissa Peterman).

The charming family comedy was adored by fans, yet it was still canceled when The WB made the switch to The CW in 2006. Thankfully, the latter wanted to give the series a proper ending and brought it back for a sixth and final season (which featured a hilarious guest spot from Kelly Clarkson). But almost two decades later, do you remember where Reba, Van, Cheyenne, and the whole gang ended up regarding their love stories? Cozy up on the couch, and let’s revisit the love stories and happy endings of Reba.

Greg Schwartz / Fox Television / Everett Collection

Who did Reba end up with?

These days, the woman herself doesn’t sign onto a show without bringing her real-life beau, Rex Linn (and Peterman), along for the ride, i.e. Happy’s Place and Lifetime’s The Hammer. But don’t let the above photo fool you. While did have some fun romances with handsome gentleman like James Denton, the titular character doesn’t end her series with a partner with whom to share the future.

In fact, in the final moments, Van gets emotional thinking about how Mrs. H (as he calls her) is all alone while the other couples find their happy endings. But as she explains, Reba is right where she wants to be, at the center of her family’s chaos helping them keep their lives in order. Through a divorce, an inescapable mistress, a few romantic encounters, and more than a few laughs, Reba ends the series as a single woman but a true survivor. See what we did there?

Did Van and Cheyenne end up together?

They may not have been the poster children for a successful high school experience, but Cheyenne and Van ended the series exactly how they started it: Pregnant and (briefly) living with Reba. In the final run of episodes, the couple celebrated more than five years of marriage by branching out on their own and finally getting their own place. It was a tough decision for everyone, especially Reba, who was charged with being the new Barbra Jean when she started constantly showing up at their house across the street. But the couple wanted to do it on their own as they prepared to welcome their baby boy, and they pretty much did it. Except in the series finale, Van almost burns the house down trying to fix a shoddy air conditioning unit on his own.

Fox Television / Everett Collection

They wind up back at Reba’s long enough to realize they finally need to grow up, and they want to do it together, like they always have. Between his shattered football dreams and her alcoholism — oh, and the whole teen pregnancy thing — Van and Cheyenne have never had it easy. But they end up grateful, if-not-still-dimwitted adults ready to raise their family under their own roof. Even if it is in sight of Reba.

Did Barbra Jean and Brock end up together?

Barbra Jean’s final season dream of becoming a meteorologist on the local news station introduces her alter ego, Stormy Clearweather. But that alias is more than apt in describing the up-and-down romance of Barbra Jean and Brock. One season it’s clear skies, and then the next, it’s a brutal storm. The latter is the kind of weather they battle in the final season when Barbra Jean’s new career makes Brock both jealous and a bit of a misogynist. He doesn’t want Barbra Jean to be anything more than his wife, something he has to reckon with in the series finale when she is offered a job in Little Rock.

Their fighting has already pushed them to file for divorce, but Brock sees he needs to be honest with his wife. Her leaving would leave a major hole in his life and heart, and when he can finally vocalize that, it mends their broken marriage. Barbra Jean also trades weather forecasts for hard-news reporting, so she doesn’t sacrifice her career for her husband. Nor does she give up the second (maybe first?) most important person in her life. Speaking of…

What happened to Reba and Barbra Jean?

Danny Feld / Fox Television / Everett Collection

Let’s be honest. The most important romance on this show was always the enemies-to-platonic-lovers saga of Reba and Barbra Jean. So, in the series finale, when Reba proudly declares Barbra Jean to be her best friend, it was nothing short of a miracle. Despite Barbra Jean breaking up her marriage, constantly bursting into her home and growling for her love, Reba was worn down by her charms and, to be frank, her persistence. While Reba does follow up her declaration with a disclaimer — “It’s more of a comment on my sad life,” she admits — the words have already been spoken into the universe. It only took six seasons and 127 episodes. But Reba and Barbra Jean lived happily ever after, in separate homes, of course.

Reba, All Seasons, Streaming Now, Hulu and Netflix