When Is Kelly Severide Returning to Chicago Fire? Fans May Have to Wait Until Next Season To See Taylor Kinney Again
Kelly Severide, how we miss you so. After the actor left Chicago Fire for an unknown amount of time in season 11, we all want to know when Kelly Severide is returning to Chicago Fire. We’ve got the details, below.
Chicago Fire is NBC’s popular drama series that focuses on the lives of firefighters, rescue personnel and paramedics of the Chicago Fire Department’s fictional Firehouse 51. Played by actor Taylor Kinney, Severide’s been a mainstay since the very first episode aired in 2012. He started as lieutenant of Firehouse 51 and officer in charge of Squad 3. Although he was known as a ladies’ man in earlier seasons, his shenanigans halted when he started dating his now-wife and fellow firefighter, Stella Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo), in season 4. The couple became engaged in season 9 and married in season 10.
In an interview with the Today Show’s Al Roker in November 2022, Kinney reflected on his tenure on the show as one of the few remaining original cast members. “Times have changed, and the city has changed, and people have grown,” but ultimately said, “This is home.” He continued: “I’ve been here over a decade. The city has been good to me. I love the city. I’ve gotten to know it through my work…I love this city.”
Ahead of the season 5 finale in 2019, Kinney spoke with The Hollywood Reporter about what it was like watching Chicago Fire expand into Chicago P.D., Chicago Med and Chicago Justice, where he’s all appeared as Severide. “Going forward with these spinoffs, they get a little hectic, but I was looking at a poster the other day on our stages and one of them is the entire cast of Fire, P.D. and Med,” he said. “You see it grow little by little but there’s like 50 characters and it says, ‘One Chicago.’ To see that—and now we have Justice—it’s a lot to take in. I’m really proud and humbled.”
We’re sharing everything we know about when Kelly Severide is returning to Chicago Fire, as well as the details behind his temporary exit from the Dick Wolf-produced drama.
Why did Kelly Severide leave Chicago Fire?
Why did Kelly Severide leave Chicago Fire? Our sister site, Deadline, reported in January 2023 that Kinney was “taking a leave of absence to deal with a personal matter.” Sources also told the publication that cast and crew were informed of Kinney’s leave on January 20, 2023, and that future scripts will be written to accommodate his absence from the series. In the meantime, fans will get a special guest appearance from Severide’s former costar, Captain Matthew Casey (Jesse Spencer), who is returning to his role a second time after he left the series in season 10. Spencer will be in episode 18 of season 11, which will air on NBC on April 5, 2023. News of Spencer’s return came two months after we learned about Severide’s break from the show.
On the show, writers approached Severide’s exit by sending him off to arson training. In season 11, episode 15, “Damage Control,” Tom Van Meter (Tim Hopper) tells Chief Wallace Boden (Eamonn Walker) that Severide has left Chicago to train at “the best arson investigation training program in the world.” Van Meter told Boden that the opportunity was too large for Severide to pass on. And because Severide left at the last minute, he couldn’t tell Boden himself. Although Boden was disappointed, he tells Van Meter that Severide’s training will be beneficial for Firehouse 51. When Severide does return, his storyline will likely revolve around his return from the training program and his reunion with his wife.
Kinney’s temporary exit also comes three months after Chicago Fire‘s co-creator and co-showrunner Derek Haas announced he was leaving Wolf Entertainment at the end of season 11. “Although I am leaving Wolf Entertainment next year to focus on creating new shows, I’m entirely committed to delivering amazing episodes of ‘Chicago Fire’ and ‘FBI: International’ through the end of the current seasons,” Haas said in a statement to Deadline in November 2022. “I learned everything I know about storytelling, pace, characters, production values, and hiring the best cast, crews, and staffs from Dick Wolf and Peter Jankowski, and as hard as it is to leave a place you love and have called home for over a decade, including incredible support from Universal Television, NBC and CBS, I look forward to building my own brand in entertainment.”
When is Kelly Severide returning to Chicago Fire?
When is Kelly Severide returning to Chicago Fire? We’re not sure, as we haven’t heard anything from NBC or Kinney about a possible return date. But, given that the finales of most Chicago Fire seasons air between mid-April to late-May, it’s possible that Severide could be out for the rest of season 11 — and we might not see him back until season 12 — if there is one.
Technically, NBC has not renewed Chicago Fire for more seasons. The only news we’ve received regarding the show’s status comes from an interview with Susan Rovner, chairman of entertainment content at NBCUniversal TV and streaming. When asked by The Hollywood Reporter in Feburary 2023 if she expects all six of Dick Wolf’s shows to be back (including Chicago Fire), Rovner responded: “There’s a lot of life and all things stick well. And I’m sure good news will come soon.” Rovner also expanded on why some NBC shows, like Quantum Leap, were renewed earlier, while Chicago Fire has not yet been announced. “That’s because we can stay in continuous production right now ahead of a possible writers’ strike,” she explained. “That’s also a shorter order. Dick Wolf does 22-episode shows, so there isn’t the same continuous production opportunity there.”
We’re going to have to wait to learn more about when exactly Kelly Severide is returning to Chicago Fire and if the show will be renewed for future seasons at NBC.