Actor Reggie Austin has been cast as Vanessa Williams‘ husband on the seventh season of ‘Desperate Housewives.’
The Peekskill, N.Y., native will play Doug, a New York baseball star whose marriage to Renee Perry (Williams) is on the rocks when she becomes attracted to Fairview’s new contractor (Brian Austin Green).
The 31-year-old Yale grad recently played Jamie on The CW’s ‘Life Unexpected‘ and also appeared as baseball player Devon on the Debra Messing series ‘The Starter Wife.’
Williams, who also joined the series this season, is only the second black woman to star on the hit series, after Alfre Woodard, whose character, Betty Applewhite, shook things up during season two of creator Marc Cherry‘s dramedy.
TVsquad.com pointed out that even though Williams has experience being the wife of a pro athlete (she was married to the former basketball player and L.A. Lakers star Rick Fox), Cherry encouraged her to change things up a bit because “we already had the wife of a basketball player” in Eva Longoria Parker.
So Williams’ character will be the wife of a player for the Yankees.
Austin will not debut until the fifth episode of the new season.
