Former When Calls The Heart star Lori Loughlin is returning to the Hallmark Channel drama for season 14 after ties with the series were cut in 2019 following her arrest in a college admissions bribery scandal.
Loughlin, an original cast member, will reprise her role as Abigail Stanton and will appear in six of the 12 episodes set for the upcoming season, which was officially confirmed on Tuesday.
The 14th season will shoot next year in and around Vancouver ahead of a 2027 premiere. Based on the novel When Calls the Heart by Janette Oke, the next cycle for the period-set series will also star Erin Krakow, Kevin McGarry, Jack Wagner, Chris McNally, Pascale Hutton and Kavan Smith.
The drama follows school teacher Elizabeth Thornton, played by Krakow, as she leaves her comfortable world in the city for a new life in a frontier town of Hope Valley, and blossoms as the community becomes her true home.
“Since the series’ debut in 2014, the character of Abigail Stanton was a fan favorite and beloved by the Hearties,” Michelle Vicary, head of programming at Hallmark Media, said in a statement about continuing the character’s story with the Full House star in the role.
Nearly seven years ago, Hallmark Channel severed ties with Loughlin after she and her husband, designer Mossimo Giannulli, were indicted in a nationwide college admissions scandal. That led to a two-month imprisonment for Loughlin for her conviction in a scheme to pay bribes to college officials to gain admissions into top schools.
When Calls the Heart is an All Canadian Entertainment Production, in association with Brad Krevoy Television and Believe Pictures.
