Jesse Metcalfe Reunites with Eva Longoria for a Heartwarming 'Desperate Housewives' Throwback
Jesse Metcalfe and Eva Longoria, stars of 'Desperate Housewives', reunite after 20 years, igniting nostalgia among fans of the hit TV show
Steve Granitz/FilmMagic
Jesse Metcalfe and Eva Longoria had a sweet reunion over two decades after their Desperate Housewives characters parted ways.
"Running into an old friend is always a great feeling! ️ Love you @evalongoria ," Metcalfe, 45, wrote in the caption of a photo posted on Instagram on Monday, January 8, showing him and Longoria, 48, embracing.
Longoria shared the photo on her own Instagram Story, adding, "Reunited in Vegas!"
Metcalfe and Longoria portrayed John Rowland and Gabrielle Solis, respectively, on the ABC drama. Their characters engaged in a passionate affair during season 1 as Gabrielle sought to add excitement to her suburban life by seducing her teenage gardener, John.
Gabrielle’s husband at the time, Carlos Solis (Ricardo Antonio Chavira), was frequently away on business and only learned of the betrayal in the dramatic season 1 finale, when Metcalfe delivered the memorable line, “Didn’t you think it was strange that you had the only lawn on Wisteria Lane that needed to be mowed three times a week?”
Desperate Housewives first aired in 2004, and Metcalfe's final appearance on the show was during the sixth season in 2009, three years before the series finale in 2012. Metcalfe and Longoria reunited again in August 2015.
Photo from Jesse Metcalfe's Instagram account
"Guess who I bumped into today! My beloved gardener!!!! [sic] #DesperateHousewives #OneOfMyFavPeople," Longoria wrote alongside a photo of the two on Instagram.
In an interview with Hello! magazine in October 2020, Metcalfe discussed his relationship with Longoria. "We may not keep in touch on a regular basis, but when we do see each other, it feels like no time has passed," he shared. "She has been a great friend, and we follow each other on social media. I enjoy seeing how she spends her time and her love for motherhood, and it's a joy to watch her son grow up on Instagram."
Longoria, who has a son named Santiago with husband José Bastón, described her onscreen romance with Metcalfe as "iconic" during a July 2023 interview with Entertainment Tonight. She expressed how people still approach her about their characters and praised Metcalfe, saying "Jesse's amazing." The actress also pointed out that despite the big age gap between their characters, she and Metcalfe are actually close in age in real life.
"We were both the same age so it never felt weird," she explained. "The chemistry was much better and it worked better for the story with Jesse."
Regarding her other Desperate Housewives colleagues, Longoria dispelled any rumors of tension among the women in the cast during a November 2023 interview on Dax Shephard's "Armchair Expert" podcast.
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Back then, I remember it being all about women. While there were plenty of shows with men on the air, no one was focused on the idea of women fighting. Longoria explained how the cast was unaware of the outside drama.
"Anything happening outside the show was a surprise to us. We were too immersed in our work to really pay attention to what was going on beyond the set," she reminisced. "We were in our own little world. Our focus was solely on the set and each other."
