Why Did Fiona Leave? Details

The creative team behind When Calls the Heart is likely hoping to milk the show’s run on the air for as long as possible. The Hallmark series is already in its eleventh season, and in that time it’s earned plenty of goodwill from its many adoring fans.

When Season 11 premiered, though, some fans noticed that one familiar face seemed to be absent. Kayla Wallace, the actress who plays Fiona, wasn’t around for the Season 11 premiere. Now, many are wondering whether she’s left the show for good.

Fiona’s absence from When Calls the Heart may not be permanent, but it’s also unclear exactly when Kayla will be back on the show. Erin Krakow, the show’s star and executive producer, spoke during the Heart Beats after-show about Kayla’s absence and made it clear she’s only not with the show because of a scheduling conflict.

“We love Kayla Wallace. We would love for her to be in every episode. Kayla had a really incredible opportunity on another TV series that films out of town. We’re excited for her,” Erin explained.

Erin also added that they were hoping Kayla would still be available for at least a few episodes.

“We are hoping that we’ll be able to have Fiona back for some episodes,” Erin said, but added that she doesn’t know for sure whether that will be possible. “Who knows? But yeah, we truly, truly over the moon thrilled for Kayla.”

The reason Kayla isn’t appearing on When Calls the Heart is that she was cast in Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan’s new series Landman. The show is based on the podcast series Boomtown and has been billed as an “upstairs/downstairs story of roughnecks and wildcat billionaires fueling a boom so big, it’s reshaping our climate, our economy and our geopolitics,” according to Variety.

Kayla is set to play Rebecca Savage, “an extremely capable and intimidating liability attorney sent to West Texas to clean up a mess.”

Few things are more guaranteed to go over well than Taylor Sheridan shows, so it makes a certain amount of sense that Kayla felt the need to jump ship. It’s unclear how long the series will last, though, so it’s possible that Fiona will eventually make her way back to When Calls the Heart.

Fiona’s absence is not going to go unremarked upon inside the universe of When Calls the Heart.

“Not to make it about Elizabeth, but look, she goes to the barbershop and Robert’s there. She’s not going to have Robert cut her hair,” Erin joked on Heart Beats.

“Yeah, it’s a very close community. I think people are really heartbroken over the fact that Fiona’s not around,” she continued. “And truthfully, we don’t have enough time in the episode to really dig into that. And so hopefully it doesn’t feel like people are in any way cavalier about her departure.”