With Season 2 already in production, it’s been confirmed one star of the ensemble won’t be back — with reports suggesting they didn’t leave the show on their “own accord.”
Dr. Heather Collins won’t be returning to the emergency room.
According to multiple reports, including both TV Line and Variety, actress Tracy Ifeachor will not be back for Season 2 of The Pitt, which is currently in production.
TV Line reports the “decision was a creative one, and it was not Ifeachor’s choice to leave,” while Variety adds the decision came from “the show’s creative team” and Ifeachor wasn’t leaving “on her own accord.”
HBO Max
On Season 1 of the HBO Max series, Ifeachor’s Dr. Collins had a strong bond with Noah Wyle’s Dr. Robby, with viewers eventually learning the pair once dated and she seemingly had an abortion when she got pregnant. The character left mid-way through the season, after suffering a miscarriage on the job. With Dr. Robby telling her to go home and turn off her phone, she didn’t even return when a mass shooting took place, flooding the ER with patients.
Appearing on The Ringer’s The Watch podcast, Wyle explained her character didn’t come back as a story device for Robby, leading to his breakdown after his quasi-stepson’s girlfriend is killed in the shooting.
“Really it was more … let’s take away all this guy’s support systems and have him out there,” he said at the time. “If she had been there, I think she would have been maybe one of those voices that could have reached him, and we didn’t want him to be reachable.”
So far, Ifeachor hasn’t directly commented on her exit — but posted to Instagram the day before the news was confirmed about how much of a “blessing” her time on the first season was.
“What a blessing to be a part of this first and foundational season of #ThePitt on @hbomax,” she wrote. “It was an absolute privilege to play Dr. Heather Collins in such a groundbreaking season and piece. Thank you to everyone who has watched & supported Season 1 & shared their stories with me.”
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