NEED TO KNOW
Hope Valley is about to see the return of a very familiar face.
PEOPLE can exclusively reveal that Hallmark Channel’s hit series When Calls the Heart has been renewed for a 14th season which will see the return of original cast member Lori Loughlin as Abigail Stanton.
The news comes ahead of the season 13 premiere — and nearly seven years after Loughlin’s final episode aired in season 6. Loughlin, 61, will appear in six of the season’s 12 episodes, which will begin filming next year and air in 2027.
The show’s core cast — including Erin Krakow, Kevin McGarry, Jack Wagner, Chris McNally, Pascale Hutton and Kavan Smith — will also return for season 14.
Jeff Weddell/Hallmark
“Since the series’ debut in 2014, the character of Abigail Stanton was a fan favorite and beloved by the Hearties,” Michelle Vicary, Hallmark Media’s head of programming, tells PEOPLE in a statement. “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.”
Abigail, a widow, is beloved as the first friend Elizabeth (Krakow) made upon her arrival in Hope Valley. The character was written off the show in 2019 in the wake of the college admissions scandal for which she served two months in jail.
Loughlin’s final episode aired on March 10, 2019, and was followed by a brief hiatus as the show sorted out a path forward without her. When it returned in May, it kicked off with Elizabeth’s typical voiceover as she writes, saying, “We never know how life will turn. It’s been a week since Abigail got word that her mother had taken ill back East. True to her nature, Abigail wasted no time in rushing off to care for her.”
Garrett Lobaugh
Since then, Loughlin has made a successful return to acting, appearing on Curb Your Enthusiasm and playing a cop in a lead role on Dick Wolf’s Prime Video drama On Call. She also reprised the character of Abigail for two episodes of When Hope Calls on Great American Family in 2021.
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In 2023, When Calls the Heart co-creator Brian Bird hinted at the possibility of Loughlin’s return to Hope Valley.
“What I can say is that there are good conversations happening,” he said on the Heart to Hearties podcast. “We can’t guarantee anything, but there are good conversations happening around this topic.”
Alamy
Fan favorites returning to Hope Valley is becoming quite a theme. Before Loughlin, Brooke Shields will be returning for the first time in 10 years as Elizabeth’s late husband’s mother, Charlotte, for three episodes.
At the conclusion of season 12, Elizabeth, her boyfriend Nathan (McGarry), Nathan’s niece / adoptive daughter Allie (Jaeda Lily Miller), and Elizabeth’s son Little Jack (Hyland Goodrich), headed to Cape Fullerton to stay with Charlotte to be closer to an insulin lab for Little Jack, who has diabetes.
But the season won’t be all happy reunions.
“There’s an event that happens at the beginning of season 13 that kind of shatters Hope Valley and the surrounding area and sets off a journey for every character that’ll run the entire season,” McGarry teased during a panel aboard the Hallmark Christmas Cruise last month.
When Calls the Heart season 13 premieres Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Hallmark Channel and will be available to stream the next day on Hallmark+. Season 14 will debut in 2027.
