‘Glee’s’ Naya Rivera: Gloria Estefan Plays a ‘Supportive’ Mom

Things are looking good in Lima Heights.

During next week’s Glee season finale, Gloria Estefan pops in to play Mrs. Lopez, the sweet mother to Naya Rivera‘s snippy Cheerio, Santana.

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While it’s unclear what brings Mama Lopez to McKinley — it is the graduation episode, so that’d be our educated guess — Rivera stressed that the relationship between mother and daughter is completely different than when her grandmother rejected the singing cheerleader after she came out to her during an April episode.

“She’s very much the supportive mother — and fun!” Rivera told The Hollywood Reporter on Monday at Fox’s upfront party in New York.”She was amazing to work with, very sweet and we had the best time.”

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Despite having Estefan in the house, Rivera says the Grammy winner won’t get to sing anything but instead breaks bread with her on-screen daughter and her girlfriend, Brittany (Heather Morris) during a “cute” scene at Breadsticks, where Mrs. L is, you guessed it, a great parent. “She’s very supportive of the relationship,” Rivera says.

With cast members heading to New York and some staying put in Lima, Rivera reveals she doesn’t have a preference in terms of where she’d like to see Santana go — if the cheerleading scholarship Brittany so kindly helped to arrange doesn’t pan out. 

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“Santana just wants to be a star; she definitely will be pursuing that,” Rivera says. “The big question is, is the University of Louisville big enough for Santana? I don’t have a preference as long as I’m still involved with the show, which I am, in any capacity.”

Considering Brittany’s graduation status is up in the air, and with Santana potentially heading out of state, could the dynamic couple be separated?

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Rivera says Santana will continue to help Brittany do anything she wants and, regardless of what happens, promised a satisfying finale for “Brittana.”

“It’s not an ending, so I don’t think there will be any issues with that,” she says. “The last episode is very, very sweet.”

Would you be sad to see Brittany and Santana separated? Hit the comments with your thoughts. Glee airs back-to-back episodes Tuesday starting at 8 p.m. on Fox.

Email: Lesley.Goldberg@thr.com; Twitter: @Snoodit