Melissa Gilbert had an emotional reunion with her former co-star and ‘sister’ Melissa Sue Anderson following their years-long feud.
The 61-year-old actress – who recently shared why she was brushed off by a Real Housewives star – jumped to her main Instagram page over the past weekend to share a photo of the special moment.
Both she and Anderson, 63, played siblings on the beloved Western historical drama series Little House On The Prairie – which aired from 1974 until the final season in 1983.
Gilbert has been starring in the off-Broadway play Pen Pals in NYC – and was cheered on by Anderson during a recent performance, proving their rift was far in the past.
‘Worlds collide. Blessings abound. Hearts heal and reunite. Magic happens,’ she penned in the caption.
The star further expressed that she has ‘a secret’ which she’s kept ‘close to my heart for a while now. Reconnection with a sister. Long, healing talks. Lots of reminiscing. Lots of catching up. Lots of laughter and a few tears.’
Melissa Gilbert, 61, had an emotional reunion with her former co-star and ‘sister’ Melissa Sue Anderson, 63, following their years-long feud
Gilbert jumped to her main Instagram page over the past weekend to share a photo of the special moment
‘Worlds collide. Blessings abound. Hearts heal and reunite. Magic happens,’ she penned in the caption
Gilbert gushed, ‘I’m so happy to have Melissa Anderson back in my life. We share such an important history that no one else on earth truly understands.
‘Just us Ingalls girls. The best part is, the past is now just that and we can move forward as the sisters/friends we always wanted to be. What a wonderful Christmas gift.’
Elsewhere in her caption, the star revealed that her castmate in the play Veanne Cox had a ‘surprise’ in the crowd, which turned out to be Broadway actress Betty Buckley.
All four women paused to take a memorable photo together backstage, with Gilbert and Anderson standing next to each other.
Social media users jumped to the comment section to express their own thrill over the mini reunion.
One penned, ‘Congrats on the play! It warms my heart to see you with Melissa. Wonderful holiday magic! ❤️.’
Another wrote, ‘I genuinely teared up a bit reading that. I’m so happy for both of you and the renewed connection with someone who shared such a significant experience with you.’
‘Awww it’s great to see the Melissa’s back again,’ a fan typed, and one added, ‘Having grown up with you two, this makes me very happy.’
Both she and Anderson, 63, played siblings on the beloved Western historical drama series Little House On The Prairie (seen above) – which aired from 1974 until the final season in 1983
Social media users jumped to the comment section to express their own thrill over the mini reunion
Another shared, ‘Yes ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ We love seeing you two reunited again,’ and one said, ‘This is absolutely wonderful news… Love to hear it!!! May your reconciliation flourish… Stay blessed.’
Gilbert portrayed the character of Laura Ingalls Wilder on Little House On The Prairie – with Anderson playing her older sister Mary Ingalls on the NBC show.
The siblings had a close bond during the episodes, but their relationship was quite different behind-the-scenes.
‘I honestly do not have a lot of memories of the two of us,’ Anderson told The Atlanta Journal Constitution back in 2010. ‘We were very, very different.’
One year earlier in her 2009 memoir A Prairie Tale, Gilbert also offered some insight into how their sisterly bond remained on-screen only.
‘We played sisters and were only a couple years apart in age, but from the start, for whatever reason, we never had a real sisterly kinship,’ the actress penned in her book, per Entertainment Weekly.
‘There was a distance to her, a coldness, though sometimes I wonder if it was just that I never knew how to get her to let me in.’
Gilbert added that it had also been difficult ‘to get along’ with Anderson while on set.
‘I honestly do not have a lot of memories of the two of us,’ Anderson told The Atlanta Journal Constitution back in 2010. ‘We were very, very different’; seen above with castmate Rachel Lindsay or Sidney Greenbush
One year earlier in her 2009 memoir A Prairie Tale, Gilbert also offered some insight into how their sisterly bond remained on-screen only; seen in 2023 in Monaco
She further reflected on her former co-star in 2014 during an appearance on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen.
At one point when the topic was brought up, the When Calls The Heart actress explained, ‘I’m going to phrase this in the gentlest way I can by saying that Melissa Sue Anderson and I, were just not too awfully close, ever. Even for a moment.’
Gilbert went on to say that Anderson had also been ‘hateful’ as well as ‘horrid’ and ‘mean.’
‘She hated me. She hit me. She knocked me off the wagon…literally elbowed me off the covered wagon.’
But Gilbert and Anderson have since moved on from the past, and it comes as a Little House On The Prairie reboot is currently in the works.
Netflix announced back in January of this year that it is developing a ‘fresh adaptation’ of the books written by Laura Ingalls Wilder.
Rebecca Sonnenshine – who has worked on other shows such as The Vampire Diaries and The Boys – is both showrunner and an executive producer.
‘I fell deeply in love with these books when I was five years old,’ she said in a statement at the time, per The Hollywood Reporter.
Gilbert explained, ‘I’m going to phrase this in the gentlest way I can by saying that Melissa Sue Anderson and I, were just not too awfully close, ever. Even for a moment’; Anderson seen in 2024 in Monaco
Netflix announced back in January of this year that it is developing a ‘fresh adaptation’ of the books written by Laura Ingalls Wilder
‘They inspired me to become a writer and a filmmaker, and I am honored and thrilled to be adapting these stories for a new global audience with Netflix.’
However, some fans were left furious over the upcoming project not long after the announcement.
One wrote on X in January, ‘Please don’t ruin another treasured piece of literature and Americana.’
‘Reimagining? No thank you,’ another typed, and a social media user added, ‘Why does it have to be “reimagined”? You’re going to screw this up.’
A few months later in March, cast members were revealed with the development of the series in full swing.
Alice Halsey will play Laura Ingalls and other co-stars include Skywalker Hughes, Crosby Fitzgerald and Luke Bracey.
‘I’m hoping, and from what I understand, is that the remake will hew closer to the books than we did,’ Gilbert told People in February.
‘I’m hoping, and from what I understand, is that the remake will hew closer to the books than we did,’ Gilbert told People in February; seen above in the series in 1975
‘There’s a lot of information and beautiful stories to mine from the actual writings of Little House.’
She continued, ‘There’s no reason to go off-roading and adding characters that didn’t exist.
‘There’s plenty of people in the Little House world that still haven’t been talked about on our version of the show. We really twisted the true story around quite a bit.’
Production kicked off earlier this year in Canada – but an official release date has yet to be announced.
