Maureen McCormick Goes Country

Former Brady Bunch star Maureen McCormick isn’t in the TV suburbs any more. She’s Gone Country for the new CMT celeb-infused reality show. And get this, the 51-year-old star is going to sing!

Maureen, who played Marcia on The Brady Bunch, has a little bit of experience in the crooning department. She sang such songs as “It’s a Sunshine Day” as a teenager with her brothers and sisters on the hit sitcom. My Los Angeles counterpart, Carole Glines, recently caught up with the actress to find out why she’s one of the celebrities giving country singing a shot on Gone Country.

“I was asked to pursue a singing career when I was 18 or 19, but I just think it was the wrong timing," she says. "My parents really wanted me to just go back to normal life as much as possible at that point. I was acting and there’s only so much you can do.”

When the Gone Country producers approached her, Maureen jumped at the chance to test out her vocal chords again. “People say that I sound a lot like Loretta Lynn. She wasn’t an extraordinary voice but she really sang from her heart and you felt what she sang, great style, great lyrics. People were comparing me to her; I was flabbergasted.”

On the show, which also stars Bobby Brown, Carnie Wilson, and Twisted Sister singer Dee Snider, Maureen lived in a house with the other celebs and got to write her own song with country experts in Nashville. “I love singing from the heart and the song that I wrote is about losing my mom and how I wish she was still here,” Maureen confides. “It really meant a lot to me. When the lyrics were done, I just sat there and cried and cried and cried. It’s probably going to be on the air. I was just a basket case.”

And who did Maureen bond with most in the house? Bad boy Bobby Brown! “I love Bobby Brown. He and I became like this close."

Maureen adds, “I honestly think it’s one of the best shows I’ve ever done. I just think people are going to love it—it’s reality combined with American Idol. They brought seven of the most different people together in this one house. It’s really interesting what happens. I made so many friends in Nashville."

Maureen might get that recording career off the ground yet. “I want to record a country album so badly! It would be a dream come true."

Maybe onscreen sibs Eve Plumb (Jan) and Barry Williams (Greg) will sing a cameo.

Gone Country premieres Friday, Jan. 25 at 8 p.m. on CMT.