Christina Mandrell has to be hoping that this year’s The Bachelor, Zach Shallcross, is at least a little bit country. Or at least impressed by an impressive pedigree of Nashville royalty. Though Mandrell has achieved her own degree of fame as a social media influencer, her mother and aunts are bonafide country music legends.
It may not ring a bell for Millennials or Gen Z but Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters were one of country music’s hottest acts of the ’80s. Eldest sister Barbara had a string of country music and crossover hits in the 1970s and by the ’80s hosted her own variety show on NBC. The show ran from 1980 to 1982 and featured Barbara and her two younger siblings Louise and Irlene in a mix of musical acts and comedy sketches, often based around a fictional sibling rivalry. The show was attracting 40 million viewers when Barbara opted to cancel the series due to vocal strain.
Baby sister Irlene went on to appear as a regular on the country music variety program Hee Haw following the show’s cancellation and appeared on two episodes of The Love Boat. She went on to co-host Nashville’s Bright Lights & Country Nights and This Week in Country Music. She released her first single “We Will Stand” in 2015.
Irlene gave birth to Christine on Oct. 19, 1995. She was her only child with her second husband, Rob Pincus. Christine has two half-sisters, Vanessa and Deric Boyer, from her mother’s first marriage to Rick Boyer. Christine’s aunt Barbara officially retired from touring, recording, and performing in 1997. Aunt Louise — who had her own string of hits in the ’70s and ’80s — still occasionally performs at selected events and occasions.
Fingers crossed for Christine that Zach is impressed by her legit ties to one of country’s greatest families. It may just earn her a rose.