‘Reba’ star Christopher Rich says his 2018 stroke felt like ‘an atomic bomb’

As he approaches his return to TV, Christopher Rich is reflecting on the frightening health crisis that he endured in 2018.

The actor — who is set to reunite with Reba costars Reba McEntire and Melissa Peterman on Friday’s episode of their sitcom Happy’s Place — recently told Us Weekly that he’s feeling “really good” about the return, years after the stroke that put his career on pause.

“After my stroke and having a brain injury, it is like I got hit with an atomic bomb,” Rich said of the recovery process. “So it all gets traumatized, and it is a hard reset.”

The 71-year-old shared that after he got out of the hospital, he began to slowly regain mobility. But before long, he “threw [up] a bunch of blood clots” and found himself back in an emergency room with “lung embolisms and debris on my heart.”

He continued, “After surviving all of that crap, I’m feeling really, really good.”

Following appearances on The Nanny, Murphy Brown, and ER throughout the ’90s, Rich rose to fame playing Reba’s selfish, golf-obsessed ex-husband Brock Hart, in her titular hit sitcom. The show ran from 2001 to 2007, and Rich would later recur as Russell Burke on Melissa & Joey. The actor estimates that in the aftermath of his health scare, he has lost “50 pounds” since that show wrapped in 2015.

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His final role before the pause was 2018’s The Christmas Trap. After years spent focusing on his recovery, he made his return in the 2021 streaming film, Spiked. Now, Rich says he feels hopeful about acting again, especially given his role on Happy’s Place. 

“It’s great to be able to be a disabled person and play a disabled person,” Rich shared. “I’m hoping that when some of this gets out there, that people that I’ve worked with in the past are going to say, ‘OK, let’s bring him back. We can work with him.'”

Rich is set to guest star as Maverick, per Variety, “a local tattoo artist that is very good at his job … as long as he’s using his right hand. Turns out Maverick has had a stroke and likes to tease new clients about which hand he’s going to use when he starts doing their tattoos.”

His appearance will keep the trend of Reba reunions going on the McEntire-led show, which already welcomed Steve Howey last fall.

“The crew made it feel like the old Reba set because we were having a blast,” Rich shared. “They had as much fun as I did and that was really heartwarming for me. It felt like I was back home in a safe place. I was really well taken care of.”

Calling the experience “a blessing,” Rich made it clear that he’s already ready for Maverick to make a comeback, adding, “I want to go back so badly.”

Aside from picking up his acting career, Rich has kept busy with philanthropy in the health sphere, including his participation in a 2019 video series for the Centre for Neuro Skills.

“After [you] suffer a brain injury, it is like everything has changed in a moment and now you’re in this other place. But there’s hope because this is where — for me — the sun shines,” he explained in one video, while reflecting on his recovery experience. “You’re at the right place and I’m so sorry that you’re having to do this, but I’m glad you found this place. They will take good care of you. They saved my life.”

He added, “I don’t think I’ll ever be exactly what I was before, and I hope not, because this has been such a learning experience for me.”