[Source: Entertainment Weekly]

Glee stars Kevin McHale and Jenna Ushkowitz recently opened up about how it felt to rewatch the entire series on their podcast And That’s What You REALLY Missed.

Appearing on a “pod swap” with the hosts of How Rude, Tanneritos!, the actors shared how difficult it was to see their old costars Naya Rivera and Cory Monteith onscreen after their deaths.

McHale recalled his first attempt at a Glee recap show with Ushkowitz, which they shut down in 2020 after Rivera’s death.

That podcast, called Showmance, had been the first time that McHale and Ushkowitz had revisited the series since wrapping. Even before Rivera’s death, McHale said it was “hard” to watch Monteith, who died during the fifth season of the show.

“I couldn’t really listen to the songs he was singing on and it was just hard,” he said. “But watching it really helped me get through it.”

Revisiting the episodes helped the podcasters work through their grief. Ushkowitz said it created a new opportunity for healing, especially since the cast had to perform their despair “live” after Monteith’s death.

Glee paid tribute to Monteith in the season 5 episode titled “The Quarterback.” The New Directions sing various songs to honor the memory of Monteith’s character Finn Hudson, who the creators killed off.

“We had to mourn all that in the show, like, while we were filming it, and move on without him,” Ushkowitz said.

As time has passed and the duo created And That’s What You REALLY Missed, McHale said they entered the rewatch process with the goal of celebrating their Glee family.

“It really is a gift that we get to watch this, and we got so many moments of how great they are as people shine through in their performances as characters,” he said. “Obviously it’s hard. Some episodes are easier than others, but it has been another really nice surprise of doing all this.”

Listen to the full episode of How Rude, Tanneritos! with guests Kevin McHale and Jenna Ushkowitz below.

Stream the best of Fiji on VITI+. Anytime. Anywhere.