Fans of Amanda Rollins — the long-running “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” character played by Kelli Giddish — can rest easy knowing that Rollins will return to the beloved procedural this season.
Season 25, which returns with a new episode on April 11, is well underway … and after Giddish returned as Rollins briefly during the season premiere, she’s set to make a reappearance in the season’s eleventh episode, which doesn’t have a title as of this writing. The April 11 episode is the ninth of Season 25, in case you need a clearer vision of the timeline at hand.
It also seems as if Episode 11 just finished airing based on an Instagram post by “Law & Order: SVU” star Mariska Hargitay — who plays Captain Olivia Benson — where she celebrates reuniting with her co-star. There’s also the photo of the two on-set that clearly shows some sort of decorative wreath behind the two actresses; Giddish is in street clothes while Hargitay’s “badge” clearly visible, indicating that Rollins and Olivia could be at either a wedding or a funeral. Still, fans will have to wait for Episode 11 to fully understand why Giddish — and Rollins — returned to “SVU” for this installment.
Why did Kelli Giddish leave Law & Order: SVU?
So why did Kelli Giddish leave “Law & Order: SVU” in the first place? The actress officially left the series in 2022 after 12 seasons on the procedural, with her character Amanda Rollins retiring from the NYPD and becoming a professor at New York City’s Fordham University, on the heels of her wedding to fellow former detective Dominick “Sonny” Carisi (Peter Scanavino), who left the squad to become an assistant district attorney.
In an interview with Variety that marked her exit from “SVU,” Giddish opened up about her decision to leave the show, saying that since she started playing Rollins in her twenties, she ultimately spent all of her thirties as the character (as of press time, Giddish is 43 years old). Still, she said the experience of being a part of such a long-running show was truly incredible, and she was grateful to be part of a project with the longevity of “SVU.”
So why did she call it quits when she did? “My side of things is just that it’s time in the Rollins storyline,” Giddish said. “I felt like where it was heading, and where it headed last night, just seemed the right place to leave it right now. I am so excited about things going on in my personal life and kind of the mirroring of what’s going on in my personal life and in Rollins’, there’s a lot of joy to be experienced.”
Giddish is a credited guest star for Season 25, so beyond the premiere and Episode 11, the door is clearly open for her to keep returning. “Law & Order: SVU” airs new episodes on Thursday nights on NBC at 9 P.M. EST.
