Lori Loughlin returns to acting after college admissions scandal with When Calls the Heart spin-off
Former Fuller House star Lori Loughlin is making a return to acting for the first time since the college admissions scandal of 2019.
Loughlin will reprise her role of Abigail Stanton from the Hallmark Channel series When Calls the Heart for season 2 of the spin-off When Hope Calls, which is also moving to a different network on GAC Family, formerly known as the Great American Country Network.
The actress will appear on the season's two-part premiere, When Hope Calls: A Country Christmas, which will air on Dec. 18.
Season 6 of When Calls the Heart was already filmed when Hallmark fired Loughlin in the wake of Operation Varsity Blues, wherein a ring of wealthy parents were accused of paying millions of dollars to a schemer who bribed college officials, faked extracurriculars, and fraudulently inflated college entrance exam scores so their children could be favored for admission to top schools.
Crown Media Lori Loughlin in 'When Calls the Heart'
When Calls the Heart was abruptly pulled from the Hallmark schedule in 2019 in light of the scandal and Loughlin's firing from all Hallmark-related projects. After some additional shooting, season 6 returned in May of that year with Loughlin edited out from the remainder of the episodes.
Loughlin is currently on probation after serving a two-month prison sentence, while her husband, fashion designer, Mossimo Giannulli, served a five-month sentence.
Mercury News reported earlier this month that a federal judge in Boston gave the actress permission to travel to Canada and return to work.
When Hope Calls previously ran on Hallmark's streaming platform Hallmark Movies Now, but will now be the first original series for GAC Family. Star Morgan Kohan will also reprise her role of Lillian Walsh.
Deadline was the first to report the news.
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