Kelli Giddish's Detective Amanda Rollins will return in Law & Order: SVU Season 26. The creatives behind the long-running police procedural crime drama confirmed that the actress is set to appear in multiple episodes of the upcoming 26th season. Per TVLine's report, executive producer Julie Martin said that the character is "definitely coming back to the show," with showrunner David Graziano adding that Giddish is returning as a guest star and will "make a bunch of appearances throughout the season,” no less.
Giddish first appeared in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (often referred to as only SVU) as a guest star and joined one of the series regulars for the procedural drama's thirteenth season in 2011. The actress then left the series as a main cast back in 2022, though she had some brief appearances. Now, although the actress is confirmed to be only a guest star for Season 26, both Martin and Graziano revealed that Giddish's Amanda Rollins is set to appear in Season 26's multiple episodes.
What To Expect in ‘Law & Order: SVU’ Season 26?
Martin and Graziano didn't reveal exactly how many episodes of Season 26 Giddish will be in, but there would be a "bouquet of them." Amanda Rollins has been one of the primary characters in Law & Order: SVU, having been added to reinvent the show after Christopher Meloni's Elliot Stabler left the crime drama. Furthermore, her marriage with Peter Scanavino's Dominick “Sonny” Carisi has been one of viewers' favorites throughout the show. So, of course, with Giddish returning for the 26th season (albeit only as a guest star), the announcement marks an exciting season for SVU.
In the same interview, Graziano revealed that Season 26 will see Amanda Rollins working with a new intelligence unit that is "very different from the Intelligence Unit anywhere else." According to the showrunner, Rollins will be required to travel a lot as part of her job. On the other hand, Graziano assured that Amanda Rollins and Sonny Carisi are still living a happy married life along with their children, saying, "We’ll see Carisi and his daughter get involved in something together that they’ll kind of have to work their way out of."
In addition to Giddish and Scanavino, Season 26 will also feature the return of Olivia Benson as Mariska Hargitay, Joe Velasco as Octavio Pisano, and Terry Bruno as Kevin Kane, among others. Law & Order: SVU Season 26 premieres on October 3 at 9/8c on NBC.
Previous seasons are available to stream on Peacock in the US
