JoAnna Garcia Swisher

Actress JoAnna Garcia Swisher was born in Tampa, Florida, where she spent most of her childhood. She got her start in theater before being cast in Nickelodeon’s Are You Afraid of the Dark? in 1994. Garcia Swisher split her time between her home state and Montreal for the remainder of highschool for filming before enrolling in Florida State University.

After her freshman year of college, Garcia Swisher decided to put school on hold to pursue her dream of becoming an actress in L.A. Once there, she soon appeared on television shows such as Party of Five and Freaks and Geeks.

In 2001, Garcia Swisher began her six-year run on The WB/CW comedy Reba (opposite Reba McEntire) as teen mom Cheyenne. Midway through the show, Swisher became engaged to Justin Timberlake‘s childhood friend, Trace Ayala; but the couple later called it off.

Following Reba, the actress took on both screen and voice acting, going on to make appearances in shows such as Privileged, Gossip Girl and Better With You. She landed the role of Maddie Townsend on the Netflix drama Sweet Magnolias in 2020; the fourth season of the show premiered in February 2025.

Garcia Swisher began dating New York Yankees player Nick Swisher in August 2009; the couple announced their engagement nine months later. The twosome tied the knot in December 2010 and share two daughters, Emerson (born in 2013) and Sailor (born in 2016).