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Kelli Giddish is returning to ‘SVU’ with a major surprise

The beloved character will come back to the force to drop a major announcement.
Kelli Giddish filming on location for "Law and Order SVU" on March 29, 2012 in New York City.
Kelli Giddish filming on location for "Law and Order SVU" on March 29, 2012 in New York City. Bobby Bank / WireImage
/ Source: TODAY

Somebody call 911 because Kelli Giddish is coming back to briefly appear on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.”

The actor, who departed from her role as NYPD Det. Amanda Rollins halfway through the NBC crime-drama’s 24th season last December, will return to share some happy news, according to TVLine.

TODAY has confirmed TVLine’s report that Giddish’s character will make a cameo appearance for the season finale to tell her former colleagues that she is pregnant.

Giddish starred in the NBC crime drama for 11 seasons before leaving the show. In an August 2022 Instagram post, the actor described her role on the show as “one of the greatest joys and privileges” of her life.

“I wanted to address the chatter I’ve seen online and let everyone know that this will, indeed, be my last season on Law & Order: SVU,” Giddish said in her statement. “Playing Rollins has been one of the greatest joys and privileges of my life. I’ve been so fortunate to be a part of the ‘Law & Order’ family for the last 12 years. There is simply no other character on TV like Rollins. She’s grown and changed, and I have as well. I started on this show when I was in my late 20s, and I’m grateful I got to spend so many of my adult years with Rollins in my life.”

In her last appearance on the show as a series regular, Giddish’ character married assistant district attorney Dominick “Sonny” Carisi (Peter Scanavino) in a spur-of-the-moment courthouse wedding. The ceremony saw Rollins' co-workers also in attendance, including Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and Odafin “Fin” Tutuola (Ice-T). Soon after, Rollins left the Special Victims Unit for a teaching post at Fordham University.

Giddish, who often appeared alongside Hargitay in the series, described what it was like filming final scenes with her castmate to Entertainment Weekly.

“Over the years, there’s a certain magic that happens when I get to film scenes with her,” she said. “It’s just easy. But all of the emotion was just there with us the whole time, the love for each other that we have. I think it made for a beautiful scene for the audience to get to be a part of. It was very real emotion. We kept it pretty contained to be honest.”