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When “When Calls the Heart” season 10 ended, the finale left a strong hint that Hallmark viewers might be seeing Abigail in season 11. But could Lori Loughlin return to the network? Some evidence — including the show’s creator being vocal about wanting her back — points to her returning as a distinct possibility. However, conflicting evidence has left viewers thinking it might not happen.
The Show’s Creator Wants Loughlin to Return
Abigail was a main character on “When Calls the Heart” in the show’s first six seasons, until 2019, when Loughlin was implicated in the University of Southern California admissions scandal. At that point, Hallmark removed her projects from all its networks and even re-edited some episodes of “When Calls the Heart” to remove her before they aired.
But in the series’ season 10 finale, which aired on October 15, 2023, the character was brought up in dialogue numerous times. In one scene, Henry (played by Martin Cummins) had a heart-to-heart with Elizabeth (Erin Krakow) in which he talked about thinking about Abigail every time he looked at her cafe. At the end of the episode, he was shown arriving at Abigail’s house and the door opening, with someone greeting him. The person on the other side of the door wasn’t shown.
Executive producer and co-creator Brian Bird tweeted photos of that ending scene and wrote “#Hearties, did any of you see this surprise door-knock coming?”
In an October 16 post-show interview with JLJ Media, Bird said he would like to see Loughlin return.
“Hope Valley is a town of second chances,” he said about 47 minutes into the interview. “This is where art and life kind of commingle. … It is an ongoing conversation. I can’t promise anything; I can’t spoil anything right now. But all I can say is for Hearties who follow me from the beginning, you know what my views are on second chances so … I have a lot of hope.
Bird elaborated a little more during a post-finale interview with Heart to Hearties, about 6:40 into the interview.
“What I can say is that there are good conversations happening,” Bird shared. “We can’t guarantee anything, but there are good conversations happening around this topic.”
When asked how Loughlin is doing, he said she’s adjusting well.
“She is doing really good…” Bird said. “She’s assured us that she has found some peace and she’s made it through her ordeal — her and her husband’s ordeal — and she’s in a much better place than she was… Our attitude always has been … What better place for second chances than Hope Valley? And so in theory, it’s in theory, it should work, right? But again, can’t fully promise it, but we’re working on it.”
Bird has been vocal about his desire to bring Loughlin back to “When Calls the Heart.” In fact, he already had Loughlin reprise her role as Abigail on the spinoff series “When Hope Calls.” Loughlin appeared in a two-part Christmas special that aired on a competing network called Great American Family in 2021.
In an interview with Navigating Hollywood about a year ago, Bird said he tried to get Loughlin back on “When Calls the Heart” before returning her to the “When Hope Calls” spinoff.
Our first choice would have been to bring her [Loughlin] back to Hope Valley and to When Calls the Heart. We had those conversations with the network… In their judgment it just wasn’t the right time… But Lori had done her time… The spinoff show … is a derivative show… it’s a neighboring town, a day’s ride away… We said OK, well we believe it’s time to offer Lori her second chance here, and so we decided to bring her there to Brookfield… She has indicated she would love to continue on that show if we’re able to do it.
In an interview with Charisma Podcast Network’s Greenelines podcast and host Steve Greene more than a year ago, Bird revealed that although he would love to see Loughlin return, it was difficult to make it work out.
“I personally would love nothing more than that happening in Hope Valley,” he said. “Whether or not we can do it is another question. There’s a lot of moving parts to that decision. There’s a lot of other stakeholders besides me who would have to say yes to that. So I can’t say with certainty that we can pull that off. I hope we can, but I can’t say that we can actually pull it off.”
In January 2023, Bird tweeted about Loughlin: “I believed in second chances then, #Hearties, and I still believe in them now… in life and in the Film/TV biz. Cheers to #LoriLoughlin and to her new film… #FallIntoWinter…”
When one fan replied negatively to his tweet, Bird answered: “Look up her emotional statement at her sentencing, which went mostly ignored in the media, and then see if you feel the same way. I sort of go with Romans 3:23: For ALL have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory.”
Erin Krakow Also Wants Loughlin to Return
Krakow, also an executive producer of the show, has also wanted to bring Loughlin back.
In an interview with ET Canada, Krakow was asked if there was a chance that Abigail might come back.
Krakow said: “From your lips to God’s ears. I truly, truly hope so. It would make me so happy to see Abigail back in Hope Valley. And I think there are still a lot of really beautiful stories for her character to get to tell. I would welcome her back with open arms. So let’s hope.”
Then in May 2022, when Krakow and Pascale Hutton (Rosemary) were attending a special event Hallmark was hosting for the stars, they visited Loughlin shortly after the event and shared photos of their get-together on Instagram.
When Hutton shared her photo with Krakow and Loughlin, she wrote, “If you’re missing #WCTH tonight- here is my gift to you! ❤️❤️❤️ #theresalwaysone.”
Loughlin Is Already Filming Movies in Canada
Loughlin has been busy filming movies in Canada for Great American Family. “When Calls the Heart” also films in Canada, and they are almost done filming for season 11, Bird shared on October 15.
Her most recent movie is a Christmas-themed film that will be airing this season on Great American Family, Variety reported. The movie is called “A Christmas Blessing,” and it’s directed by David Winning, who also directs numerous Hallmark movies, Newsday reported. Wining is known for some big Hallmark hits like “The Nine Kittens of Christmas.” The script was written by Alfonso Moreno, who was a former showrunner for “When Calls the Heart.”
Loughlin also headlined GAF’s first winter movie of 2023, called “Fall Into Winter,” Us Magazine reported.
Many Fans Say They Want Loughlin Back
In a public “When Calls the Heart” Facebook group, fans are divided on whether they want Loughlin back. One fan wrote, “So is Lori coming back, or will they just have Henry miss some episodes while he visits her, where we don’t see Abigail? Whatcha think?”
One fan wrote, “I wish he would bring her back home with him.”
Another person wrote, “They sure preach a lot of forgiveness on the show not to allow her back.”
Still another fan answered, “I would love to see Lori come back as Abigail.”
Not everyone agrees. One fan wrote, “I Hope NOT !!!!!!!!!!”
Hallmark’s Only Official Statement Was Years Earlier, Saying Loughlin Wasn’t Returning
As for Hallmark, the network has not made any indication that executives there have changed their minds about Loughlin. Back in 2021, when rumors about Loughlin’s return were circulating, Hallmark made official statements on Twitter (now called X), writing: “Hallmark Channel has not cast Lori Loughlin in any current projects, nor do we have any plans to cast her in the future. She was cast by GAC Family, a wholly separate cable network not affiliated with Hallmark Channel or Crown Media Family Networks.”
Hallmark Media executives have not said whether they changed their minds or are still holding fast to that statement. However, Hallmark Media has slowly been introducing Loughlin back to the network through other methods. Back in 2022, Hallmark Movies Now announced that Loughlin’s “Garage Sale Mysteries” series had been added to Hallmark’s paid streaming service.
On July 22, 2022, Hallmark Movies Now announced: “Stream the first three Garage Sale Mysteries now available on #HallmarkMoviesNow!” Crown Media didn’t make a public announcement to the press about it, but instead quietly added the series back to streaming only.
Her series has since been return to television, airing on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries.
Abigail’s Cafe Has Been Renamed ‘The Cafe’ for Season 11
Despite these signs, though, there are also still pieces of evidence indicating Loughlin might not be returning. First, the season 10 cliffhanger for Henry is very similar to his cliffhanger in season 8 of “When Calls the Heart.” In that episode, Henry told Lucas that he was leaving Hope Valley because the saloon, hotel, and petroleum business didn’t matter to him anymore. He said that instead, he wanted to find what truly brought him comfort, so he was leaving town. Many fans at the time thought he was talking about Abigail. Henry returned from his journey in season 9.
During the “When Hope Calls” Christmas special, which aired on Great American Family in 2021, Abigail was shown mailing a letter to Henry.
But there’s another interesting sign that might point away from Abigail returning. Hearties who visited the Hope Family Reunion in September, which took place at the filming location for “When Calls the Heart,” noted that Abigail’s Cafe had been renamed to “The Cafe” for season 11.
One fan who attended the event shared a photo of the cafe with Heavy. You can clearly see the cafe is now called “The Cafe.”
Still, hope remains. After the season 10 finale aired, Bird retweeted a fan’s Lori Loughlin GIF captioned “Is Abigail coming back to Hope Valley????”
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