Severide's Chicago Fire Return Confirmed After Abrupt Season 11 Exit Last Year
Taylor Kinney, who portrays Kelly Severide, is confirmed to return for Chicago Fire season 12 after the actor abruptly exited season 11.
Summary
- Taylor Kinney will return for Chicago Fire season 12 after his unexpected absence in season 11.
- Kinney plays Kelly Severide, the leader of Rescue Squad 3, and has been with the show since the beginning.
- It is unclear if Kinney will be a regular in season 12, but viewers are hopeful that Severide will continue to be a mainstay in the series.
Chicago Fire confirms the season 12 return of Taylor Kinney after his abrupt departure from season 11. Kinney plays Kelly Severide, leader of Rescue Squad 3, in the popular NBC drama in the One Chicago universe. The Chicago Fire actor has portrayed the character since the show’s inception before taking a leave in season 11.
Now, TV Line confirms that Kinney will return for Chicago Fire season 12. According to the source, Kinney will return at minimum for the beginning of Chicago Fire season 12. There is no confirmation whether the actor will return to the series as a regular. Furthermore, NBC has not provided a comment.
Taylor Kinney’s Chicago Fire Season 11 Absence Explained
Having acted in Chicago Fire for over 200 episodes, Kinney was originally slated to portray Severide for the entirety of season 11. The situation changed, however, when personal matters led Kinney to take a leave of absence from the One Chicago show. At the point of his exit, Kinney had already filmed several episodes for Chicago Fire season 11. Kinney’s last appearance in Chicago Fire was in season 11, episode 14, “Run Like Hell,” which was broadcast on February 22, 2023.
His exit left the Chicago Fire writers in a scramble as they had to suddenly reinvent the show without Kinney. To explain his absence, the show revealed in the following week’s episode –season 11, episode 15, “Damage Control”– that Severide had to go away to Alabama for a training program for an arson investigation. While a reasonable write-out, this training program excuse came abruptly, as his leave had not been anticipated in earlier episodes.
Chicago Fire Season 12 Must Fix Its Big Severide Problem
NBC's One Chicago ruins Taylor Kinney's Kelly Severide and Chicago Fire season 12 needs to fix him. Luckily, there's an easy way to make up for it.The Chicago Fire season 11 finale left the door open for Severide’s return without completely guaranteeing it. Now, Kinney is confirmed to return for Chicago Fire season 12, although the details are still sparse. Despite the unclarity, hopefully, Kelly Severide will become a Chicago Fire mainstay once more.
Source: TV Line
