When Law and Order: SVU returns with new season 24 episodes in January, one thing will be drastically different. After 12 seasons, Kelli Giddish will no longer be on-screen portraying Detective Amanda Rollins.
As viewers of the NBC procedural drama know, Kelli’s unexpected departure was marked by her character Rollins marrying longtime love ADA Sonny Carisi (Peter Scanavino). She also accepted a job as a college forensic psychology professor. Though Law and Order: SVU fans (and Mariska Hargitay!) were devastated by the turn of events, this seemingly hopeful exit sparked a thought. Since the character’s husband is still on the squad and there’s a track record of former characters occasionally appearing, does this mean Rollins — and subsequently, Kelli — could possibly return to the show?
While speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Kelli didn’t shut the idea down. In fact, she gave her thoughts on where Rollins could be in the future, and what that would mean for a possible comeback.
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“[Rollins is] still in New York,” she told the outlet. “I think the door’s open, sure. I loved working with everybody that was ever involved with SVU and I know they feel the same about me, so if it works in a storyline or whatever, I don’t think the audience would ever hate to see that.”
Kelli further addressed the chance of returning when she spoke to Entertainment Tonight shortly after her final episode aired. As she explained it, being on a show helmed by Law and Order producer Dick Wolf means getting back in front of the camera isn’t out of the question even if it’s not necessarily in a full-time capacity.
“What’s really cool about being on SVU is that Dick Wolf created this universe that it’s there no matter what and the audience knows and loves all of our characters,” she told the publication. “So, I think if I popped up somewhere in the future, I think they’d be happy to see me.”
Fans previously saw this happen with another beloved character: Elliot Stabler, played by Christopher Meloni. Although he initially left Law and Order: SVU in May 2011, Chris’ character continued being seen on the procedural drama. The actor eventually made his highly anticipated return when Stabler joined the Organized Crimes Task Force in the 2021 premiere of Law and Order: Organized Crime.
Maybe Kelli’s exit means something we aren’t aware of just yet. But just for good measure, we’ll keep crossing our fingers.
Editorial Assistant
As the entertainment and news editorial assistant for Good Housekeeping, Adrianna (she/her) writes about everything TV, movies, music and pop culture. She graduated from Yeshiva University with a B.A. in journalism and a minor in business management. She covers shows like The Rookie, 9-1-1 and Grey’s Anatomy, though when she’s not watching the latest show on Netflix, she’s taking martial arts or drinking way too much coffee.
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