Melissa Peterman

Melissa Peterman is an American actress and comedian. She has played the role of Barbra Jean in the television comedy series Reba, appeared as Bonnie Wheeler in the ABC Family/Freeform series Baby Daddy, and was host of ABC Family's Dancing Fools, ABC's Bet on Your Baby, and CMT's The Singing Bee. Since 2017, she has played Brenda Sparks in The Big Bang Theory spinoff series Young Sheldon. Since August 2022, she is the host of the television game show Person, Place, or Thing. Career Upon graduating from Minnesota State, Peterman was cast as Madeline Monroe in Hey City Theater's production of Tony n' Tina's Wedding. After more than 600 performances, she went on to write and perform at Brave New Workshop, the improvisational comedy theatre in Minneapolis. The theater boasts such alumni as Pat Proft, Louie Anderson, Cedric Yarbrough, Mo Collins, and Al Franken. In 1996, Peterman made her film debut as "Hooker #2" in the Oscar-winning Coen brothers' movie Fargo.