‘Welcome to Sweetie Pie’s’ to End After Five Seasons

The upcoming fifth season of the Oprah Winfrey Network’s Welcome to Sweetie Pie’s will be its last, the network said Monday.

The docuseries, which started in October 2011, will return on Tuesday, May 1 at 10 p.m. ET, following a new episode of Tyler Perry’s The Haves and The Have Not, reports Dateline. The show will then move to its regular Saturday timeslot, starting on May 5, for the remainder of the season.

Welcome to Sweetie Pie’s was OWN’s first big hit and ranks as the No. 2 original Saturday series in the network’s history among women in the 25-54 demographic. It was also the No. 2 overall original Saturday night cable series among African American women.

“For nearly seven years, our viewers have fallen in love and followed an incredible journey with Miss Robbie, Tim and the whole family,” said Erik Logan, President of OWN. “It comes with immense gratitude and appreciation as we send off the series for its final season and make OWN history celebrating 100 memorable episodes.”

The 100th episode will air on Saturday, June 9 with a special hosted by Kym Whitley after the finale. The stars of the series will also share stories from behind-the-scenes of the show.

Welcome to Sweetie Pie’s tells the story of Robbie Montgomery, a former backup singer for Ike and Tina Turner. Montgomery and her family opened a soul food restaurant in St. Louis called Sweetie Pie’s, using her mother’s recipes. The series followed her and her family as the business continued to expand.

In a recent interview with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Montgomery said the show rekindled her interest in performing. She recently released a single, “What Would I Do,” digitally. She also performed in Los Angeles in 2016.

“It was their suggestion for something for the show,” the 77-year-old reality show star said in 2017. “On a reality show, you have to have something going on. They were like, ‘Miss Robbie, don’t you have some songs?’ They knew I used to write. I said, ‘Yeah I have a lot of songs.’ They’re 30 years old. Let’s go into the studio and record.’”

Montgomery said she originally did not want to stop singing, but she was diagnosed with sarcoidosis in the 1970s. She had a lung biopsy, and it never healed, she said.

“I’m at a place where I’m doing what I want to do,” she told the Post-Dispatch. “My voice isn’t what it used to be, but I’m having fun.”

Photo Credit: OWN