Dr Will Halstead is returning to Gaffney Chicago Medical. HELLO! can confirm that two years after leaving Chicago Med, Nick Gehlfuss will be returning to screens. The actor will have a guest role in season 11 after he left at the end of season eight to reconnect with his one true love, Dr Natalie Manning (Torrey DeVitto), who had left Chicago and settled in Seattle with her son.
His exit was specifically written so that there was scope for him to return, with Nick admitting at the time that part of the decision to leave boiled down to “how we exited Will”.
“I wanted that to be the case, but of course, I would have been okay with whatever the writers felt necessary for the story. So I’m glad that they preserve that possibility. They said outright, ‘You know, we’d be happy to have you come back whenever you want.’ And it’s really touching,” he said.
His return will bring questions for fans of the NBC show, though, and the network has remained mum on the circumstances surrounding Will’s decision to return to Chicago. Will is a doctor with experience in several fields, including working in war-torn countries and plastic surgery, so his return may be connected to a specific case that requires his specialization.
In season 10, Will’s former love, Dr Hannah Asher (Jessy Schram), discovered she was pregnant, and the baby is Dr Dean Archer’s (Steven Weber). “You can’t avoid all that history,” Nick once told HELLO! of former and returning characters, and although Will is – presumably – still happy with Natalie in Seattle, fans will be keen to see a reunion between Will and Hannah.
More importantly, Asher and Archer’s hook-up happened off-screen, with viewers completely unaware until Asher stood on his door to give him the big news. Perhaps Will can be the conduit through which Asher reveals to the audience, who had long hoped for a romance between Asher and Archer, what happened between the pair.
It can also be an opportunity for the writers to share an update on Will; how have the last two years been for Will? Has he settled in Seattle? Are he and Natalie married?
A reference to Will’s brother Jay (Jesse Lee Soffer), who was a character in Chicago PD, would also be a welcome gift, after Jay left Chicago to enlist in the Army for a mission to combat drug cartels in Bolivia. Both Nick and Jesse announced their decision to leave their respective shows within months of each other.
Season 11 of Chicago Med will also look different because John Earl Jenks and Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut have both exited the series. John starred as Dr. Dennis Washington for 12 episodes across seasons nine and ten; his last episode was the season ten finale. His character was written out as part of a budget-cut storyline. His love interest Sharon Goodwin (S. Epatha Merkerson), the chief administrator of Gaffney Chicago Medical Center, tried to renegotiate his deal, but he ultimately resigned.
Also leaving is Ashlei, who starred as Dr. Naomi Howard for 16 episodes across seasons nine and ten.
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