Toni Braxton Will Play Herself in Major CBS Show Guest Role

Toni Braxton isn’t necessarily new to the acting world. She’s starred in a number of films, most notably Kingdom Come and a number of Lifetime movies. But she’s also starred in her own biopic as herself in the Lifetime film, Unbreak My Heart. Now, she’s starring as herself in an upcoming episode of a major CBS sitcom.

Entertainment Weekly recently revealed that the Braxton Family Values star has been cast in The Neighborhood, alongside her new favorite Las Vegas residency co-headliner, Cedric The Entertainer. She will play herself in the upcoming Season 6 finale, which is loosely based on the true story of how her co–star Marcel Spears’ first child was almost born at a Beyoncé concert.

Per an official logline shared by EW: “The whole crew heads out to see Toni Braxton live in concert, but just as the concert begins, Courtney’s [Skye Townsend] water breaks.”

Cedric the Entertainer tells the outlet: “Season 6 of The Neighborhood has been a wonderful labor of love (pun intended). We are even more excited to have the legendary songstress Toni Braxton join our lovefest as a guest star on the season finale. Make sure you watch!”

Art imitates life in the sitcom as last fall, Spears and his girlfriend Sarah Francis Jones realized she was going into labor while at the final night of Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour in Los Angeles, which occurred days before their scheduled C-section. Initially, Jones thought they were experiencing Braxton Hicks contractions, so they didn’t initially go to the hospital and opted to go home instead. They made it in time for the birth of their daughter Nola Renai. The baby’s middle name is a nod to Beyoncé’s Renaissance album.

In an interview with Blavity ahead of the show’s sixth season premiere, Cedric, who stars as the show’s lead, told the outlet that the show’s success is due to its reliability.

“I really think from the very beginning of the show has been this the idea of what it looks like to be part of America. And more currently, how we have these neighborhoods that are being gentrified, and where do we stand as a people; can we all get along? Is there an opportunity to learn from each other? Is that an opportunity where harmony can exist just because we are different? Can we get to know each other? Can we have actual friendship? And so I think that’s really what the show was kind of based on and what they wanted to achieve from the early stages because we got a fantastic cast,” he said.

He added: “I think we got a great cast and, of course, really wonderful writers. And staff and the network who supports what we try to do on the show. And then also you get to go to work with people that are super talented, funny. We enjoy each other. So it’s just really been a unique energy.”