Keeping her TV mom close to her heart. Maureen McCormick opened up to Us Weekly about a very noticeable absence on HGTV’s A Very Brady Renovation — Florence Henderson.
“It was very, very emotional because I spent five incredible years of my life on this show,” McCormick, 63, told Us during the premiere on Thursday, September 5. “As a teenager, you’re going through so many things. It was absolutely amazing. So Florence was with me on Dancing With the Stars and I’m wearing this in honor of her. She gave this necklace to me.”
At the event, McCormick, who played oldest daughter Marcia Brady on The Brady Bunch, showed off a sapphire heart pendant on a gold chain. Henderson, who played the matriarch Carol Brady in the sitcom, died in November 2016 at 82 from heart failure.
“There was a charity event back in her home town and she couldn’t do it and she asked me if I’d go in and take over for her which I did — and she gave this to me as a thank you gift,” the actress continued. “But I truly feel her with me every single day. And Bob [Reed], and Annie [B. Davis].” Reed, who played Mike Brady, died in 1992; Davis, who played Alice Nelson, died in 2014.
Additionally, there’s a memento inside the house. “That got me, because I didn’t know it was coming,” McCormick added. “I entered the master bedroom with Mike Lookinland (Bobby Brady) on camera, and we opened up the closet. There were negligees there that Florence used to wear — you know, those beautiful pastel colors that she would get into bed with. And then Barbara, her daughter who was always like a sister and a best friend to me … Florence had this glass, clear paperweight heart and the heart was gold, and they told me on camera that that was hers, so that just got me.”
Barry Williams, who played Greg Brady in the series, admitted that the “nostalgia is so strong” every time they’re all together in that house.
“It’s not like we lived it and then it went away. We lived it and it stayed with us all this time,” Williams, 64, shared. “To see the house put together like that put it all right to the forefront. And seeing it with everyone — it’s hard to escape! Not that I want to, but it would be hard to escape the emotion of it.”
The Brady Bunch aired on ABC from 1969 to 1974.
A Very Brady Renovation premieres on HGTV Monday, September 9, at 9 p.m. ET.
