"She had had it with the tabloids" - Gerald McRaney shares why his wife Delta Burke retreated from spotlight

Gerald McRaney, 77, while speaking to People Magazine, opened up about the reason behind his wife, Delta Burke's exit from showbiz. Gerald mentioned that the actress was tired of the tabloids despite loving the process of acting.

"I think she had had it with the tabloids and that dust up she had on Designing Women, and she got tired of all the stuff that goes with it."

In 1990, Delta was at the height of her acting career with her role as Suzanne Sugarbaker in Designing Women. She left the show in 1991, after an alleged high-profile disagreement with Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, the show's creator.

During an April 2024 appearance on the Glamorous Trash podcast with Chelsea Devantez, Burke claimed that Linda had psychologically abused her and Bloodworth's husband, Harry Thomason.

Burke discussed that she was bullied by the show's fans about her weight, with people questioning her if she was pregnant. Burke mentioned that a fan "jerked" her coat open and said, "Let's see, how fat are ya?"

---

"It's sort of sad because she loved the process of acting" - says Gerald McRaney about Delta Burke

While speaking about his wife with People Magazine, Gerald McRaney addressed her exit from Designing Women, and revealed that the time was tough for her since she loved acting,

"It's sort of sad because she loved the process of acting, but it was all the stuff that went along with it that persuaded her maybe she should be better off not doing this."

Delta Burke won two Emmy nominations for her role as Suzanne Sugarbaker. She also went on to later work with Bloodworth-Thomason on Women of the House in 1995. Her other projects after her exit from Designing Women include a titular character on Delta from 1992-1993 and in DAG from 2000-2001. Her most recent project was Dolly Parton's 2019 Hearstrings.

While Delta mentioned that she was "emotionally too fragile" while dealing with narratives about her weight on the podcast Glamourous Trash, McRaney mentioned that he remained in the industry since he may be "a little tougher about it."

McRaney also acknowledged that press narratives can get "annoying after a while when you read absolute lies about yourself" and noted that "there's very little you can do about that."

Gerald McRaney and Delta Burke have been married for 36 years since May 1989, after meeting her at a publicist's awards luncheon in the mid 80s. The two reconnected when McRaney was cast in a guest role in Designing Women, and began dating.