The 41-year-old longtime star, who plays fan-favorite character Kelly Severide on the NBC firefighter drama, is reportedly taking 'a leave of absence' after 11 seasons.
- Jan 21, 2023
AceShowbiz - Taylor Kinney is stepping away from "Chicago Fire" after 11 seasons. The 41-year-old longtime star of the NBC firefighter drama is taking "a leave of absence" due to a personal matter, a new report by Deadline stated.
Details surrounding the circumstances around his departure are still unknown. It is also uncertain how his leave will affect his fan-favorite character, Kelly Severide, which he has been playing since the series' debut in 2012.
Reports additionally claimed that the cast and crew were only informed about Kinney's absence on Friday, January 20. Meanwhile, neither NBC nor "The Vampire Diaries" alum provides an official statement about the matter.
Kinney's character is known as a ladies man before having a committed relationship with Stella Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo). The two got married in season 10, and this week's episode saw the couple working through some firehouse issues after the newlyweds found themselves butting heads.
"Somehow they've gotten more hot," executive producer/showrunner Andrea Newman told Entertainment Tonight last September about the pair's new chapter as a married couple. "We were talking about the fact they both had terrible role model marriages in front of them from their own parents. They're creating a totally different kind of relationship model and marriage than anything we've seen before. And it's really, there's a ton of heat to it and they're just getting sexier and more intense with each other in this new dynamic."
The major cast shakeup arrived amid major changes in the past several years for the OneChicago universe. Jesse Lee Soffer departed from "Chicago P.D." last year and Jesse Spencer exited "Chicago Fire" in 2021 after 10 seasons. Spencer, however, returned for the season 10 finale to celebrate the wedding of Kinney's Severide and Rae Mayo's Stella Kidd.
