'Ladies of the '80s' reunites scandalous 'Dallas' lovers Linda Gray and Christopher Atkins
"Ladies of the '80s: A Divas Christmas" delivered on Dec. 9, bringing together five of the decadent decade's biggest TV stars with Donna Mills, Nicollette Sheridan, Morgan Fairchild, Linda Gray and Loni Anderson.
But there was one surprise '80s reunion that slid under the radar in the hit Lifetime holiday movie, which airs an encore performance Sunday (10 a.m. EST/PST).
Gray, 83, who famously starred as Sue Ellen Ewing on "Dallas," was paired with former scandalous screen lover Christopher Atkins. Atkins, 62, played Peter Richards, Sue Ellen's much younger lover on the nighttime soap opera from 1983-84.
In "Ladies of the '80s," Atkins plays Gray's supportive spouse.
"It was such a joy for me to find out that they cast Chris Atkins to be my husband in the movie," Gray tells USA TODAY. "It means that Sue Ellen married her toyboy after all. I just loved it."
The steamy "Dallas" TV relationship was big news in the 1980s with Sue Ellen, married to philandering J.R. Ewing (Larry Hagman), sneaking about with young Peter.
Gray and Atkins hadn't seen each other in more than 20 years when they were reunited on "Ladies."
"It brought everything back when Chris walked on the set, all the magic," says Gray. "I think he was 22 when I met him. And to see him now as a dad and grandfather. It was like, 'Wow, this whole thing has come full circle."
In "Ladies," Gray plays a soap actress reuniting with her bickering diva co-stars at a Malibu mansion for a Christmas special. Gray and Atkins did not share scenes in the Lifetime movie; instead, Gray's "Ladies" character frequently called her husband for moral support during her diva-filled ordeal.
"That was simply how the script was written," says executive producer Larry Thompson, who brought the "Ladies" together and cast Atkins. "The hubby was at home, while she was visiting the ladies in Malibu."
But Thompson had video cameras rolling for the actual Atkins and Gray reunion on the Malibu set. In the video, Gray hugged Atkins and told her co-star, "You haven't changed."