‘9-1-1: Nashville’ Star LeAnn Rimes Says Rob Lowe Warned Her About Franchise’s ‘Craziness’

LeAnn Rimes knows how absurd the 9-1-1 franchise gets — in fact, the “craziness” is part of the appeal for this star of the spinoff 9-1-1: Nashville.

And it was a 9-1-1: Lone Star alum who gave Rimes a reality check about the franchise and the plot points that beggar belief.

“I was talking the other day to Rob Lowe, and he was talking about how, ‘If you want reality, you don’t go to this series. We have the craziest rescues, which is what’s so interesting,’” Rimes told Us Weekly on October 7, at the show’s premiere in Nashville, Tennessee. “We’ll be like, ‘There’s no way this has happened before in real life.’ Then they’ll show us the articles because they’re pulling from real life situations.”

As with 9-1-1: Lone Star and the flagship 9-1-1 series, 9-1-1: Nashville follows first responders as they do their best to save lives amid chaotic emergencies. The new spinoff features Chris O’Donnell as fire captain Don Hart and Jessica Capshaw as his wife, Blythe. Rimes, meanwhile, plays Dixie Bennings, Don’s ex and the mother of his son Blue, played by Hunter McVey, as viewers discovered in Thursday’s series premiere.

“If you think about it — in the world of however many millions of people there are — this stuff is bound to happen to somebody,” Rimes added. “Every time we think it hasn’t really happened, there’s an article for that that shows you it has. What I love about it is, once you buy into the craziness of this show, you just fall in love with it. I remember watching the first couple episodes of 9-1-1. I was like, ‘What am I watching?’ And then about the third episode, I was like, ‘Whoa, I’m totally into their own reality.’ You just fall in love with it.”

O’Donnell told TV Insider in a recent Q&A that he was taken aback by the firenado that viewers see in previews for the show.

“Yeah, I didn’t know it was actually a real thing, to be honest with you,” he said. “I was kind of laughing. I was like, ‘What the hell is a firenado?’ And they said, ‘Yeah, look it up.’”

9-1-1: Nashville, Thursdays, 9/8c, ABC