‘When Calls the Heart’: Andrea Brooks Explains Whether Faith Is Leaving Hope Valley for Good

Have Hearties seen the last of Faith? In the March 15 episode of When Calls the Heart, Faith (Andrea Brooks) left Hope Valley to pursue her medical studies in Chicago. It’s a huge step forward for the kind-hearted nurse, but some fans are understandably concerned that Faith getting a step closer to her dreams means that she’ll be leaving the Hallmark Channel show. 

Faith heads to Chicago, but it should be temporary 

In the most recent episode of When Calls the Heart, the residents of Hope Valley had to deal with an outbreak of chickenpox. Faith quickly put her plans to leave the town on hold so that she could help Dr. Carson Shepherd (Paul Greene) treat people — including Rosemary (Pascale Hutton), who came down with a serious case of the illness.   

But at the end of the episode, with the outbreak under control, Faith’s plans were back on track. She ended up departing for Chicago, saying an emotional goodbye to Carson as she left to attend medical school in the big city. Fans won’t see her again for the rest of the season. But she’s likely not gone for good.  

“Hopefully, if we are lucky enough to have another season, she’ll come back with a whole new education behind her,” Brooks said during a March 16 appearance on Hallmark Channel’s Bubbly Sesh.  

Why Andrea Brooks took a break from ‘When Calls the Heart’ 

Brooks is a busy woman. Not only does she appear on When Calls the Heart, but she’s also a series regular on Supergirl. But she’s not taking a break from WCTH because of her work on the CW show. Instead, she’s on maternity leave. 

Brooks welcomed her first child in December 2019. Her pregnancy meant she had to stop work on the Hallmark Channel show midway through filming season 7. Fortunately, the WCTH writers were able to come up with a fun and creative explanation for her absence. 

“It’s so cool,” Brooks said of the medical school storyline. The idea of having Faith become a doctor isn’t actually a new one (episodes in earlier seasons saw her studying medical textbooks), and it was revived when Brooks revealed she was having a baby.  

“This year, when I had to announce I was pregnant, it ended up being kind of the perfect marriage of a situation,” she said. “We were able to send her off to pursue her dreams.” 

“As an actor, I was so happy we were able to find a creative way to deal with this,” she added, explaining that there are no easy solutions when an actor is pregnant, but their character is not. In Brooks’ case, a body double had to be used in certain scenes where her pregnancy couldn’t be concealed. 

Brooks is excited about what’s in store for Faith

While Brooks’ pregnancy presented some challenges, having Faith become a doctor at a time when that was unusual for women is in some ways a blessing, since it creates lots of new storytelling opportunities. 

“She’s going to come back a changed woman …. there’s a whole lot of storyline left to explore,” Brooks said.