Chicago Fire cast member Taylor Kinney has taken a leave of absence from the show, effective immediately.
For years, Taylor has played firefighter Kelly Severide on the hit NBC drama, but now he has been forced to step away.
According to Deadline, Taylor has had to deal with a personal matter, forcing him to take some leave.
This is a shocking bit of news from the show, as they are still filming episodes to roll out later in Season 11.
It seems that other cast and crew members were notified of the news early on Friday (January 20) and that an extended absence could force them to rewrite some scripts.
So far, only 12 episodes from Chicago Fire Season 11 have aired, meaning there is still a lot of new content left to debut this winter and spring.
Chicago Fire would really miss Taylor Kinney
No matter what the reason is for Taylor to lose time from filming Chicago Fire episodes, the fans are going to miss seeing him on the small screen.
It was very difficult for many fans when Jesse Spencer left the show, as his character (Matthew Casey) was also an integral component. Losing Severide would be a really big blow.
Hopefully, the real-life situation that has arisen for Taylor allows him to return to filming without missing too much time.
Much more to come from Chicago Fire
After the latest episode of the show, a showrunner revealed what’s to come for Cindy Herrmann. She just went through a rough surgery, leaving her husband, Christopher Herrmann, really struggling in the waiting room.
Additional drama has been hinted at by the showrunners, with Emma Jacobs coming back later this season. Does she have revenge on her mind after Violet Mikami worked really hard to get her fired?
Those are just two of the storylines that have to be addressed further when the show returns from its current hiatus on NBC.
According to the new TV promo, the shows are returning on February 8, but an online post by One Chicago just referred to February 15 as the drop date for the next new episode. Stay tuned.
For fans who want to go back and enjoy some of the classic episodes of Chicago Fire that feature Kelly Severide, everything is available for streaming on Paramount+. That includes the latest installment, where Severide and Stella Kidd were at odds with how to conduct themselves on the job.
Chicago Fire airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on NBC.