No one gets to avoid embarrassment, not even celebrities like JoAnna Garcia Swisher.

“I embarrassed myself brutally during two starstruck moments,” the Sweet Magnolias star, 44, exclusively tells Us Weekly‘s 25 Things You Don’t Know About Me. “One is when I met Donnie Wahlberg for the first time. I kissed his poster every night back in the day, and he was a good sport about it.”

The blush-worthy moments didn’t stop with her favorite New Kid on the Block. “Then I met Rob Lowe in an elevator and I just spiraled,” Garcia Swisher tells Us. “I didn’t stop talking. It was rough, but he was also very sweet to me.”

Watch Garcia in Season 3 of Sweet Magnolias, which is streaming now on Netflix, and visit US Weekly to learn more fun facts about her!

As a working mom of two, JoAnna Garcia Swisher knows how to throw together dinner in a pinch.

The Sweet Magnolias star, 44, shared her best tips and tricks for making dinnertime less of a chore exclusively with Us Weekly — and the first step requires planning out meals in advance.

For Garcia Swisher, coming up with a weekly dinner menu “makes shopping and prepping easy.” She also takes recipe requests from her husband, Nick Swisher, and their daughters Emerson, 10, and Sailor, 7, “so everyone is excited about dinnertime.”

When it comes to choosing what recipes to make, Garcia Swisher recommends picking dishes that have shared ingredients so the leftover supplies from one meal can be used to prep another. The Reba alum is also a fan of meals that can cook all day long and be ready for mealtime.

Garcia Swisher recently teamed up with McCormick to help busy families spend less time in the kitchen and more time together by hosting a series of “After School Tac’over” events with Big Brothers Big Sisters.

“Nothing brings me more joy than spending time with my family. Taco Tuesday and every other taco night — and there are a few — are cherished traditions for the whole family,” the actress said in an October press release. “It’s not just about the food, but the laughter and memories we create together and share at the dinner table.”

Garcia Swisher celebrated National Taco Day last month by sharing how she uses McCormick’s Original Taco Seasoning Mix to prepare a quick and easy meal. “Family taco night is always a hit in this household 🌮,” she captioned an October 4 Instagram upload. “It’s the perfect way for even the pickiest eater to customize their meal. Tonight’s toppings include lettuce, tomatoes, shredded cheese, guacamole, sour cream and freshly squeezed lime.”

She continued: “And we can’t forget about the protein! We’re using ground beef perfectly seasoned with @McCormickSpice Original Taco Seasoning Mix, made with simple, clean ingredients and bursting with delicious flavor, no matter which base you choose.”

Garcia Swisher not only enjoys cooking for her kids but also with them. “Some of my favorite moments are in the kitchen w/ the girls. (With @taylorswift blasting in the background!),” she captioned an Instagram video of herself and her daughters baking homemade apple cobbler. “This Easy Cake Mix Apple Cobbler from Practically Homemade was 10/10!”

Whether it’s tacos or apple cobbler, fans can check out more of Garcia Swisher’s favorite recipes on her blog The Happy Place.

Source: US Weekly

Between school, extracurricular activities, homework, and the very popular “yeah, it was fine” response, getting some precious intel about your kid’s day can make a parent feel like an interrogation agent. Thankfully, JoAnna Garcia Swisher hasn’t needed to use any fancy FBI techniques. While the Sweet Magnolias actress admits she’ll take “any chance” she can get to hear about her daughters’ days, she’s found that even a quick dinner together helps her family connect.

“[Dinnertime] is definitely our time,” Garcia Swisher tells Romper. “I do find that I hear a lot about the day in that little zone. Any chance that I can get to get details of my kids’ day, I’ll take it.”

Garcia Swisher’s daughters with husband, former baseball player Nick Swisher, have plenty to report. Her oldest daughter, Emerson, 10, is an equestrian and “can just get lost at the barn” for hours. Her younger daughter, Sailor, 7, is a dancer. “She’s very much the performer in our family, loves to act and dance. She spends most of her day in a cartwheel.” On top of all that, both of her girls are also in the school play. Indeed, there’s a lot to discuss.

“I like all of my little chicks back in the nest by dinnertime so we can sit down and, even if it’s 20 minutes, have a little time to connect,” she says.

The Reba star has always valued family time. It’s something her late parents, Jay and Loraine Garcia, prioritized in her own childhood. Garcia Swisher spoke to Romper about those family values, growing up in a Latin household, her recent partnership with McCormick, and her go-to taco night recipe with the brand’s original taco seasoning mix packets that miraculously keeps everyone in the family happy.

Read full interview at romper.com

Great news! SAG-AFTRA have reached a tentative agreement with the AMPTP. This means that actors are able to resume their work filming projects for television, commercials, and movies. Congratulations to the members of SAG-AFTRA on their new contract!

Source: SAG-AFTRA

Check out the photo gallery to see 14 HQ photos from the most recent event JoAnna Garcia Swisher attended.

Click on the preview links below to see all the images added to JoAnna Garcia Swisher Fan!

“Sweet Magnolias” has been renewed for a fourth season, Netflix announced on Thursday.

Based on the popular series of novels by author Sherryl Woods, the series “follows lifelong best friends Maddie (JoAnna Garcia Swisher), Dana Sue (Brooke Elliott), and Helen (Heather Headley) as they juggle relationships, family, and careers in the charming small town of Serenity, SC,” according to the official logline, per Netflix. Chris Klein, Jamie Lynn Spears, Justin Bruening, Carson Rowland, Logan Allen, Chris Medlin, Anneliese Judge, Brandon Quinn and Dion Johnstone join Garcia Swisher, Elliott, and Headley among the cast.

Season 3 of the romantic drama picked up in the aftermath of the brawl at Sullivan’s. Maddie struggled to find the best way to approach her situation with Cal and how to clear her emotional path. Helen faced several difficult decisions about the men in her life and Dana Sue looked for a way to use Miss Frances’ check to help the community without upending her family.

Viewers also saw the addition of Janet Hubert, who joined the season guest starring as Bev Decatur, Helen’s mother.

Creator Sheryl J. Anderson returns as showrunner and executive producer alongside Dan Paulson (Chesapeake Shores), whose Daniel L. Paulson Productions is producing. Woods also serves as an executive producer on the series.

“Sweet Magnolias” marks the latest scripted drama at Netflix to earn a renewal. It joins original series “Virgin River” (renewed for Season 6), “The Lincoln Lawyer” (renewed for Season 3), and “Ginny & Georgia” (renewed for Seasons 3 and 4).

Source: Variety

Imagine just losing yourself in a happy place. Like, a legitimately kind, open-minded and welcoming place. Can’t get your head around that? We get it, the world is messed up. So if you’re done with the chaos and craziness of everything, treat yourself to visit to Joanna Garcia Swisher‘s TheHappyPlace.com. It’s the escape we need today.

“That’s the goal!” exclaims the effervescent Sweet Magnolias star, who launched the lifestyle site roughly six years ago. “It’s evolved in so many ways. At first it started where I was really sharing my life of interior design and all of that.” Today, it showcases her Clover by Jo line of home goods, fashion and beauty tips and wellness hacks. She hints that her online book club, THP Reads, is set to become an even bigger entity in the near future, which should be great news for the legions of readers who share her love for beach reads, non-fiction tomes and self-help guides. “As time went on, we’ve kind of created this community of people that were very like-minded and good, happy people.”

Over the years, Garcia Swisher has also noticed that the connections made with her Happy Place visitors was a two-way street. “I started to share more and [more]…you know, life happens, and I feel like the stories that I tell, they’re in so many ways very much reflective of what I’m going through and what I’m feeling, what I’m experiencing.” In fact, she attributes the site and its users with helping her endure the grief and subsequent anxiety of losing her parents two years apart. “I realized there can be joy and grief, and so I started sharing about that.”

In the spirit of giving back, the Florida native re-ignited her “Clear the List” campaign to help clear the Amazon Wish Lists of teachers in need of supplies for the new school year. In previous years, she would pick one or two teachers, but after looking at “every DM” that comes into the website, the Ultimatum host realized she could harness the superpowers of the Happy Place’s big-hearted community and really make a difference. “This was such an exciting thing,” she beams proudly of the effort that’s already alleviated immeasurable expenses for so many worthy educators.

“We were able to clear so many and it was awesome…and you know, these lists are essentials. It’s not like bells and whistles—and by the way, they deserve bells and whistles!”

As for what she herself is looking forward to, now that the school year is afoot and autumn should be setting in soon, Garcia Swisher is prepping to drop some new Clover items and is sitting on “some incredible news” that can be discussed once the current actors and writers strikes are settled. “Until then, we’re Happy Place-ing up.”

Save us a seat, Jo!

Source: TV Insider

Check out the photo gallery to see 3,242 high-definition screen captures of JoAnna Garcia Swisher from all episodes of the short-lived TV series Animal Practice! The show aired 9 episodes on NBC during the 2012-2013 TV season, and was not renewed for additional episodes.

Click on the preview links below to see all the images added to JoAnna Garcia Swisher Fan!

The ladies were busy during Sweet Magnolias Season 3. For the first time, Dana Sue (Brooke Elliott), Maddie (Joanna Garcia Swisher), and Helen (Heather Headley) had a nasty fight.

We had the opportunity to chat with Brooke Elliott and Joanna Garcia Swisher during a recent press day. This interview was conducted before the SAG-AFTRA strike.

Elliott and Swisher shared their thoughts on the Magnolias’ fight, Maddie and Cal reconnecting, and Dana Sue’s issues with Kathy.

The actresses were optimistic about a potential Season 4 and discussed what they would like to see in additional seasons.

Check out our in-depth discussion at TV Fanatic.

JoAnna Garcia Swisher Fan supports the SAG-AFTRA strike.

The nearly 160,000 members of SAG-AFTRA, the union that represents all performers on film and television, are going on strike.

On Thursday, the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) announced its national board voted unanimously to launch the guild’s first strike. The news was unveiled by SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher and National Executive Director & Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland during a press conference, following the expiration of the union’s current contract and a 12-day extension of contract negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Producers (AMPTP).

Why are the actors going on strike?
The short answer is because the SAG-AFTRA bargaining committee and AMPTP could not reach an agreement to form a new contract after their previous one expired on June 30.

But the reasons for a strike are many. SAG-AFTRA has faced a host of radical changes as the industry has pivoted away from more traditional models of theatrical distribution and network and cable television in favor of streaming. The issues at hand include the use of AI in generating and perpetuating actors’ likenesses, as well as residuals and data transparency for streaming projects. Other points of conflict are also salaries, particularly for guest stars, costars, and background actors, as rising inflation and the cost of living increasingly prevent many working actors from earning a living wage.

Drescher summed up the reasons for a strike in a press conference speech. “We are being victimized by a very greedy entity. I am shocked by the way the people that we have been in business with are treating us,” she said. “I cannot believe it, quite frankly. How far apart we are on so many things. How they plead poverty, that they’re losing money left and right while giving hundreds and millions of dollars to their CEOS. It is disgusting. Shame on them. They stand on the wrong side of history at this very moment.”

She continued: “The entire business model has been changed by streaming, digital, AI. This is a moment of history that is a moment of truth. If we don’t stand tall right now, we are going to be in trouble. We are all going to be in jeopardy of being replaced by machines and big business, who cares more about wall street than you and your family.”

#SAGAFTRAstrong #SAGAFTRAstrike