Melissa Gilbert has her TV sister back in her life, decades after their off-camera relationship was anything but sisterly.
In a surprise post to Instagram on Dec. 27, the “Little House on the Prairie” star and “Dancing with the Stars” alum revealed that she reunited with Melissa Sue Anderson after a years-long estrangement.
Gilbert, 61, played Laura Ingalls on the NBC drama series from 1974 to 1983, while Anderson, 63, played older sister Mary Ingalls and left the series in 1981. As child stars, the two did not get along.
Melissa Gilbert Shared a Photo of Her Surprise Reunion with Melissa Sue Anderson
Gilbert’s post came after she appeared in the play “Pen Pals” in New York City. She shared a photo as she posed with her “Pen Pals” co-star Veanne Cox and two friends who were in the audience: Actress and singer Betty Buckley (“Eight is Enough”) and Anderson.
“Worlds collide,” Gilbert captioned the photo. “Blessings abound. Hearts heal and reunite. Magic happens.“
Gilbert revealed that Cox surprised her with Buckley in the audience. She then added, “But I had a secret of my own. One I’ve been keeping 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. 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.”
The happy news of the “Little House” stars’ reconciliation comes four months after the death of Anderson’s husband, Michael Sloan. The TV writer and producer, whom Anderson had been married to for 35 years, died in August at age 78, Deadline reported. Gilbert has been married to actor and director Timothy Busfield since 2013.
Melissa Gilbert Once Said Melissa Sue Anderson ‘Hated’ Her
Getty“Little House” fans have long known that Gilbert and Anderson didn’t get along. In 2014, Gilbert appeared on “Watch What Happens Live,” where she told host Andy Cohen that Anderson “hated” her when they were kids.
“[She was ] hateful, horrid, mean, terrible, mean, difficult — she hated me. She knocked me off the wagon when I was nine,” Gilbert claimed to Cohen, per UPI.
Co-star Alison Arngrim (Nellie Oleson on “Little House on the Prairie”) once told Fox News’ “The Strategy Room” that Anderson came off as a “prom queen type” on the set of the series.
“Melissa Gilbert and I wound up bonding and becoming best friends like sisters, and Melissa Sue became sort of the ‘frenemy,’” Arngrim revealed. “So we were with her all day, but I guess she was like, ‘I’m not hanging out with you two.’ She was just sort of appalled by Melissa Gilbert and I.”
