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For more than a decade, Blue Bloods has been a CBS staple. The series, starring Tom Selleck as New York City Police Commissioner Frank Reagan, has developed a loyal fan base. It continues to be a solid ratings earner entering Season 13.

Now, it seems like the new season could mark the return of Sami Gayle as Nicky Reagan-Boyle.

Sami Gayle and Bridget Moynahan film a scene for Blue Bloods in 2018
Blue Bloods stars Sami Gayle and Bridget Moynahan filming in 2018 | Craig Blankenhorn/CBS via Getty Images

Sami Gayle plays Nicky Reagan-Boyle on ‘Blue Bloods’ Season 1

Frank’s granddaughter and daughter of Erin (Bridget Moynahan), Nicky was a recurring character in Season 1 before being bumped to an “also starring” credit through Season 4. Seasons 5 through 10 saw Gayle promoted to Blue Bloods’ main cast, as Nicky goes from a high school senior to an aspiring police officer in her own right.

In Season 10, Nicky accepts a job in San Francisco. And as a result, Gayle only appeared in a single episode of Season 11. Of course, that doesn’t mean fans have necessarily seen the last of Nicky. After all, showrunner Kevin Wade recently alluded to the character’s potential to return in Season 13.

Showrunner Kevin Wade has left it open for Nicky to ‘swing by’

As Wade explained to TV Line, Gayle’s exit from the show had nothing to do with Gayle. Rather, it became difficult to incorporate Nicky into the show, given the very different path the character was on by season 10. Though Wade said “hopefully, [Nicky] will swing by,” he stands by the decision to give the character some space.

“Sometimes characters age out, in the sense that Nicky went off to college and then moved to San Francisco, and I realized, ‘We don’t have the real estate to tell Nicky stories.’ But once it had become long enough, it was almost like, ‘Well, we should bring her back at least for a family dinner, at least to meet Joe Hill.’ We actually were going to do that last season, and I don’t think her schedule matched up with ours.”

What else has Sami Gayle done on screen?

Although Gayle hasn’t done a whole lot since leaving Blue Bloods, the onset of the coronavirus pandemic probably didn’t make it easy to reintroduce her character in Season 11.

The season premiere was delayed to December 2020 due to the pandemic, after all. Aside from her long-running role on Blue Bloods, Gayle’s most recent screen credit is the 2018 streaming film Candy Jar.

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Before that, she appeared in films like Noah, Vampire Academy, and The Congress during her run on Blue Bloods and a guest appearance on Royal Pains in 2011.

Gayle also starred in Broadway productions of Gypsy and Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! in 2007 and 2008 before appearing on the daytime soap opera As the World Turns in 2009 and 2010.

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