Law & Order: SVU: Kelli Giddish to Return as Amanda Rollins for Season 25 Premiere

Kelli Giddish is returning to Law & Order: SVU. According to TVLine, Giddish is set to guest star as Detective Amanda Rollins for the Season 25 premiere of the long-running NBC procedural. The appearance will mark Giddish's second return to SVU since her departure from the series in December 2022, as Giddish had previously returned for SVU's Season 24 finale. In that appearance, Rollins was pregnant with her and new husband Assistant District Attorney Dominick "Sonny" Carisi's first child and it was also revealed that Rollins was now teaching criminal behavior at Fordham University, though she missed working with the squad.

Giddish had played Detective Amanda Rollins since 2011 and, back in August 2022, Giddish took to Instagram to announce her departure from the series, writing at the time, "I wanted to address the chatter I've seen on line and let everyone know that this will, indeed, be my last season on Law & Order SVU. Playing Rollins has been one of the greatest joys and privileges of my life. I've been so fortunate to be part of the Law & Order family for the last 12 years. There is simply no other character on TV like Rollins. She's grown and changed and I have as well. I started on this show when I was in my late 20s and I'm grateful I got to spend so many of my adult years with Rollins in my life."

"I want to thank Dick Wolf, Mariska Hargitay, Peter Jankowski, NBC, Universal Television, all of my co-stars, every single member on the crew and all the writers here for our incredible work together these last 12 years. I'm so excited to take all the things I have learned in my time on SVU and put them toward everything that's next to come."

Giddish's Rollins has long been a fan-favorite character and the announcement of her departure was received substantial backlash, with some reports indicating that the exit was not Giddish's choice, nor a decision made by new SVU showrunner David Graziano. Graziano spoke out about the decision, calling it "more complex" than it appears, while also praising Giddish as one of the "finest industry professionals".

"You might take a moment to entertain the idea that things are more complex than they appear in a world of emojis and tweets," Graziano write. "All I'll say is Kelli has handled this with the most incredibly classy comportment. She is, without a doubt, one of the finest industry professionals I've come across in my 24 years of writing television. I'm saddened by her looming exit. It'll be my lucky day if I ever get to write for her again."

When Does Law & Order: SVU Return?

Fans won't have too long to wait until Law & Order: SVU's Season 25 premiere. NBC recently revealed their 2024 television premiere dates, and SVU is set to return on Thursday, January 18th at 9 p.m. ET. The series is part of a full night of Law & Order with Law & Order airing at 8 p.m. and Law & Order: Organized Crime airing at 10 p.m.

Are you looking forward to Rollins' return? Let us know in the comment section!