Why is Taylor Kinney leaving Chicago Fire 2023?

Taylor Kinney is not going to be spearheading the Chicago Fire team. The actor will be taking a leave of absence from the firefighting drama for an unspecified amount of time, according to Variety.

The outlet confirmed that the Fire cast and writing team were informed of Kinney’s departure shortly before the announcement was made public. The scripts for upcoming episodes will have to be tweaked to accomodate the actor being gone, especially with him factoring into several of the storylines.

Is there a particular reason the actor has decided to step away?

Taylor Kinney coming back to Chicago Fire

Kinney has reported stepped away to deal with a matter in his personal life. A representative for the actor declined to comment on the specificity of the personal matter, which was a practice that was echoed by the Chicago Fire reps.

Leaving a show for personal reasons is nothing new for One Chicago. Kinney’s co-star for over a decade, Jesse Spencer, decided to leave Fire during season 10 in order to spend more time with his family. Spencer came back for a handful of cameos, but it was clear that he wanted to prioritize his personal life after years of fighting fires onscreen.

Kinney’s personal matter will not, however, led to the actor leaving the show altogether. The outlet made it clear that he would be taking a “leave of absence” instead of quitting, which means he will eventually return.

Hopefully, the absence of Kinney will not derail the storylines that have been established in season 11. Severide was primed to share an arc with Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo), and then there was the ongoing investigation into the men who tried to kill the couple on their honeymoon.

Little can be done without the actor’s presence, so hopefully the writers figure out a way to either delay their resolution or resolve them in a satisfying manner offscreen.