After her infamous dismissal from the series and prison sentence, Lori Loughlin is officially returning to When Calls the Heart. Developed by Michael Landon Jr. and Brian Bird, and based on Janette Oke's novel series, the Hallmark Channel drama has chronicled the lives of various families living in the small coal-mining town of Coal Valley in Western Canada in the early 1900s, particularly that of schoolteacher Elizabeth Thatcher as she's grown accustom in transitioning from big city life.
Loughlin was originally one of When Calls the Heart's lead characters, Abigail Stanton, who was left reeling in season 2 after the collapse of the town's mine killed her husband, her only son and 45 other miners, with the town later being renamed to Hope Valley. However, Loughlin's involvement in a college admissions bribery scandal in 2019, alongside her husband Mossimo Giannulli and fellow actor Felicity Huffman, among 33 others, led to her being fired from the show and Abigail written out halfway through season 6.
Now, the Hallmark Channel has renewed When Calls the Heart for season 14, and confirmed that Loughlin will be returning as Abigail Stanton. Production is reported to begin sometime next year in Vancouver for a 2027 premiere, with Loughlin currently set to appear in six episodes of the season after her firing from the series seven years ago. Hallmark Media's Head of Programming Michelle Vicary wrote about Loughlin's return in the following statement:
Since the series' debut in 2014, the character of Abigail Stanton was a fan favorite and beloved by the Hearties. At its core, the Hallmark brand is about hope, positivity and connection, which is also the central theme of When Calls the Heart. We felt that season 14 was the right time to continue Abigail's story with her return to this beloved series.
In When Calls Hope season 2, Abigail was shown as having spent Christmas in Brookfield with her adopted son, Cody, where she also spoke to the ghost of Jack Thornton in a dream, who wanted her to send a message for him to Elizabeth. With the added tidbit of Abigail's mother having made a full recovery, as her illness was the explanation for the character's initial departure, the spinoff seemed to be laying the path for Loughlin's proper When Calls the Heart return.
Though Loflin also led Prime Video's short-lived police drama On Call, her When Calls the Heart season 14 role is certainly one of her biggest in the wake of the college scandal. Given Hallmark sounds to be eagerly behind not only her return, but also the show's future, as the renewal comes a full month before the season 13 premiere, this may only be the beginning for more of Abigail Stanton's stories in the period drama.
When Calls the Heart season 13 premieres on Hallmark on January 4.
