Soap Alum Lori Loughlin Returns To Where Calls The Heart As Abigail After Real-Life Scandal
When The Hallmark Channel launched Where Calls The Heart in 2014, Lori Loughlin was one of its central stars, playing the role of widow Abigail Stanton. After a six-season run, she was dropped from the series by the network when she became embroiled in a real-life scandal. Now, however, the actress is headed back to WCTH for the 14th season of the show.
You Can Go Home Again
By the time she began appearing on WCTH, Loughlin had already been an established TV star for decades, having notched her first major role, Jody Travis on the ABC soap Edge of Night when was only 15 years old back in 1980. After exiting the daytime sudser in 1983, she went on to success on the sitcom Full House as Rebecca Donaldson, who married Jesse Katsopolis, played by General Hospital alum John Stamos (ex-Blackie Parrish). On WCTH, she worked closely with another soap alum, Jack Wagner (ex-Frisco, GH; ex-Nick, Bold and Beautiful).
Recalling the role Loughlin played in his own involvement with the program, Wagner told Soap Opera Digest in 2022, “When this series started, I came on at the end of season 1 and it’s because I did a movie for the Hallmark Channel and then was asked to come in. The ratings weren’t doing so well and Lori Loughlin was on the show and I talked to Lori about it. She really encouraged me to jump on and so I came on, and it turned out they picked up season 2 and what can I say? It’s just got this amazing fan base called #hearties on social media.”
Loughlin’s departure from the series in 2019 came as a blow to its legion of fans. That year, the actress and husband, Mossimo Giannulli, from whom she is now separated, were among 33 people indicted for allegedly taking place in a bribery scheme designed to get their children admitted to elite colleges, including Yale, Stanford, Georgetown and USC. In court papers filed by the United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, the actress was charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud in the investigation called “Operation Varsity Blues”. According to the complaint, the defendants conspired with others — a total of 50 people were charged — to “bribe college entrance exam administrators to facilitate cheating on college entrance exams; to bribe varsity coaches and administrators at elite universities to designate certain applicants as recruited athletes or as other favored candidates, thereby facilitating the applicants’ admission to those universities; and to use the façade of a charitable organization to conceal the nature and source of the bribe payments.” Loughlin and Giannulli allegedly paid a total of $500,000 so that their two daughters would be desig- nated as recruits to the USC crew team even though they did not participate in the sport.
Announcing its decision to part ways with Loughlin, Crown Media (the parent company of The Hallmark Channel) said in a statement in March 2019, “We are saddened by the recent news surrounding the college admissions allegations. We are no longer working with Lori Loughlin and have stopped development of all productions featuring Lori on the Crown Media Family Network channels.”
In 2020, the actress entered a plea of guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud and ended up serving a two-month prison sentence. Following her release in December 2020, she slowly rebooted her acting career, with appearances on the HBO comedy Curb Your Enthusiasm, the Prime Video drama On Call and more.
In a statement confirming Loughlin’s return to WCTH, first reported by People, Michelle Vicary, Hallmark Media’s head of programming, said, “Since the series’ debut in 2014, the character of Abigail Stanton was a fan favorite and beloved by the Hearties,” adding, “At its core the Hallmark brand is about hope, positivity and connection, which is also the central theme of When Calls the Heart. We felt that season 14 was the right time to continue Abigail’s story with her return to this beloved series.”
WCTH’s 13th season, which does not feature Loughlin, will premiere in January. Season 14 is set to air in 2026.
Conversation
All comments are subject to our Community Guidelines. Soap Opera Digest does not endorse the opinions and views shared by our readers in our comment sections. Our comments section is a place where readers can engage in healthy, productive, lively, and respectful discussions. Offensive language, hate speech, personal attacks, and/or defamatory statements are not permitted. Advertising or spam is also prohibited.