The currently pregnant actress won't be able to commit to the show's next season as she is due in July, when the new season will begin filming.
- May 7, 2015
AceShowbiz - Jennifer Love Hewitt's "Criminal Minds" stint turns out to be a short-lived one. The currently pregnant actress, who was added to the cast as a series regular at the beginning of season 10, won't return for the upcoming season 11, showrunner Erica Messer has confirmed.
In the season 10 finale which aired Wednesday, May 6, [SPOILER ALERT!] the BAU team searched for Kate Callahan's (Hewitt) kidnapped daughter Meg and her friend Markayla. At the end of the episode, Kate handed in her letter of resignation to Hotchner as she wanted to focus on her family.
"There was an opportunity there to write towards the truth," Messer tells EW of art imitating life. "Jennifer wanted to be able to give this second baby everything she gave her first, and that's taking time off to be a full-time mom." The 36-year-old star, who is already a mother of 2-year-old daughter, is due July, when the 11th season of "Criminal Minds" will start shooting.
Messer additionally reveals that the abduction of Callahan's daughter had been planned before she knew Hewitt was pregnant, "but what wasn't in play was writing her out by any means," so they "went back into the writers' room and discussed options of how to do that."
"It's a bittersweet idea of 'life is full of choices and they define who you are.' She makes the decision to leave the team for a while. It's really lovely and real, not only because it was happening off-screen, but because I know those things happen in real life too," she adds of Callahan's departure.
Messer says the door is open for Hewitt to return to the show as saying, "Yeah, we left it open creatively. Hotch says, 'You always have a place here,' and we believe that wholeheartedly off-screen as well."
