Wendie Malick has admitted it would be “too weird” to do a Hot In Cleveland reboot without Betty White.
The TV sitcom, which told the story of three best friends who moved to Cleveland after discovering they were more than a little desirable there, ran from 2011 to 2015.
Too Hard Without Betty
Betty starred in the program as caretaker Elka Ostrosky and, after her co-star Valerie Bertinelli said she wanted the show rebooted, Wendie said it would be too hard without Betty, who died in December 2021.
Asked for her thoughts on a potential revival, Wendie Malick told People, “I don’t know because it would be so weird without Betty”.
She even went as far as saying that returning to the role without the beloved actress would be like “missing a limb.”
She added, “I think sometimes the experience was so wonderful that you want to just savor that and hold on to it and just store it in your heart.”
Valerie’s Reboot Desires
Wendie Malick’s comments come after Valerie Bertinelli revealed her hopes for a reboot during a chat at a screening for her Lifetime Original Movie Love, Again.
Admitting she’s even spoken to executive producer Todd Milliner about a potential revival, Valerie said, “I know that, God bless, the gorgeous Betty White isn’t with us any longer, but we have to figure out something to do to honor her, to honor the show that people love so much.”
“So many people are watching it right now, so I want to do a reboot. I’m all in for a reboot. Let’s just have everybody come back!”
Valerie previously revealed that starring on the program was “hands down my favorite experience in my working life.”
She added, “To work with those three women that I got to work with — and there was not a diva on the set. We’d hang out in the morning and just talk before rehearsing.”
Betty’s Advice for Valerie
During an interview on The Drew Barrymore Show, Valerie revealed the best piece of advice she ever received from Betty.
She said, “She was grateful for the good, the bad, the ugly, all of it. And I have learned through going through really challenging things of the past five years, I’m grateful for the hard stuff.”
“It’s sucked, and I wish I didn’t have to go through it, but there was no other way for me to learn a better way.”
“And I think mistakes are there purposefully to help us learn what not to do.”