Kristen Chenoweth Says 'Good Christian Belles' (Formerly 'Bitches') Highlights Struggles of Bible Belt Women

By Hollie McKay

Published April 08, 2016

Kristin Chenoweth (AP)

Earlier this year, the ABC television pilot “Good Christian Bitches” had an array of critics up in arms. Religious groups were deeply offended, parenting groups were aghast and women’s organizations criticized the title, taken from Kim Gatlin’s novel of the same name.

Since picking up the show for its Fall lineup, the network has changed the name to “Good Christian Belles,” but its star Kristen Chenoweth wasn’t sure whether or not the mounting criticism prompted ABC to go from 'bitches' to 'belles.'

“I work for ABC, but I’m not an executive, so I’m not sure why the name was changed,” she told FOX411’s Pop Tarts “I’m not sure what went into that decision.”

Nonetheless, Chenoweth is confident American audiences will get into the characters, and that the dramedy – brought to life by famed “Sex and the City” and “90210” executive producer Darren Star – will give unique insight into religious communities.

“It takes place in the Bible belt in Dallas, in a world that we haven’t seen on TV a lot, which is church. That’s really just a little part of it, it’s about real women and the things they struggle with, the demons they fight, just like with anybody, with any religion, with people in general,” she continued. “It deals with how their faith, they feel, can let them down, pump them up—you’ll see all these different characters going through stuff. There’s a lot of humor there. It’s also very hopeful. Faith is a question that a lot of people question. We’ll see. I think it’s very special.”

“Good Christian Belles” also deals with the popular Hollywood topics of bullying and self-esteem.

“My character Carlene was an ugly girl growing up who had to deal with a mean girl. Leslie Bibb’s character comes back to town and sees that she’s redone herself and is an attractive person, my character has, but she’s not forgetting the mean girl,” Chenoweth said. “She feels threatened and insecure, like many people are. Because of that insecurity, she’s not always as… I think she stirs it up and then prays for everybody.”

On-screen antics aside, the 42-year-old actress has been busy promoting her involvement with The Fifth Annual Father’s Day Frosty Weekend, an initiative in which participating Wendy’s nationwide will donate 50-cents for every Frosty product sold to support Wendy’s Wonderful Kids, a program that finds permanent adoptive families for foster children through the Dave Thomas Foundation.

And though Tinseltowners often adopt from overseas, Chenoweth – an adopted child herself – sent a reminder that there are plenty of young ones within our own borders that need homes too.

“There are many children in our own country that need help and the average age of a child needing adopting here is nine. That really spoke to me," she said. "Getting to know some of these kids, I understand why people go abroad and adopt and all that, because there’s need everywhere, but we also need to remember our children here at home. There are kids here that need families, love, self-esteem, and all the things that come with being adopted. I never really think about being adopted because it happened for me at birth. So, I was lucky, but not everyone is that lucky. It’s great that a lot of the money goes toward foster care, which is such a great thing that we have here in this country, so there’s not kids that are homeless. All of it is a good thing, and in this case, it’s done simply by getting a Frosty.”

URL

https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/kristen-chenoweth-says-good-christian-belles-formerly-bitches-highlights-struggles-of-bible-belt-women