An article on Deadline revealed that Patti Labelle would, in fact, be joining the cast of "Greenleaf" in a recurring role! Maxine Patterson is a friend back in Mae's college days who is the CEO of a world-renowned Christian self-help empire. What does this mean for the Greenleaf Family? Here are a few speculations:

She's helping Lady Mae

For those who don't remember, the last season of "Greenleaf" ended with Lady Mae and Bishop having a massive fallout after Mae's sister Mavis (played by Oprah Winfrey) implies that she had more than just a small fling with Bishop.

Bishop didn't confirm or deny what Mavis told her, but he walked out of the family home and straight to the hotel of Rochelle (played by LeToya Luckett)!

Well, it sounds like Mae and Bishop's relationship is still very much destroyed. The Grio reveals that Mae turns to Maxine for advice as she looks to gather more power. More power? Could Maxine play a key role in helping Mae take Calvary away from Bishop in the instance that the two go through a public and messy divorce during the upcoming season? It's definitely possible. Especially if it comes to light that Bishop and Rochelle have indeed messed around.

It's a church scandal waiting to happen, and Maxine may help Mae capitalize on it.

She could give Bishop Greenleaf some competition

Maxine could pop back up simply because she could be the new rival Christian facility to the Greenleaf family's Calvary. With Basie Skanks seemingly out of the picture (although I'm speculating he will come back for revenge soon enough), Triumph is no longer a viable threat.

So, what if Maxine opens up one of her self-help centers in the area and the people of the congregation flock to it? Bishop certainly wouldn't like the competition, but Maxine could prove to be a rival to Bishop (just less maniacal than Basie), but it could be more harm than help if she's supposed to be here to help Lady Mae.

Maxine could end up motivating Grace

Grace was largely out of the church scene by the second half of the season, after she had no choice but to kill her Uncle Mac in self-defense. Now, Mavis did leave Grace her club to do whatever she pleases with. What if Grace and Maxine team up, and she uses Mavis's club to turn into a new motivational center? It definitely could happen!

Greenleaf won't be back until the summer (potentially a June release much like season one), so there's plenty of time to speculate and wonder in what ways Maxine will shake up the cast and bring drama in unexpected ways. Regardless, it's exciting that Patti is coming to join the cast of "Greenleaf." Look out for the show to be released later on this year on OWN.
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