“Law & Order: SVU” is a detective.
Kelli Giddish – who Det. Amanda Rollins – announced on Wednesday that she will be leaving the long-running series.
“I wanted to pick up on the chatter I’ve seen online 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,” she wrote on Instagram.
“I have been fortunate enough to be part of the ‘Law & Order’ family for the past 12 years. There’s just no other character on TV like Rollins,” Giddish continued. “She’s grown and changed, and so have I. I started on this show in my late twenties and I’m grateful that I spent so much of my adult years with Rollins in spent my life.”
The actress, 43, thanked the show’s creator, Dick Wolf, star Mariska Hargitay and “all my co-stars, every member of the crew and all the writers…”
“I’m so excited to use all the things I’ve learned in my time on ‘SVU’ for everything to come…#SVU,” she concluded.
Fans expressed their sadness at the news.
“I need tissues!” one commented while another wrote, “WHAT IS THIS NO.”
Giddish joined the legendary franchise for Season 13 after the departure of Christopher Meloni and teamed up with ADA Sonny Carisi (Peter Scanavino) before becoming a couple at the start of Season 23.
Hargitay has previously revealed that Giddish partially inspired her iconic role as Det. Olivia Benson.
“Kelli is one of the strongest people, I would say, in a lot of ways, like, way cooler than me…” Hargitay said in 2018, “so there are so many women that I admire and look up to and I try out there bits of it,’ she said.
At the very least, Giddish’s character will be featured in the show’s upcoming premiere episode and producer Julie Martin tweeted that “Rollisi will have a happy ending. Stay tuned.”
Giddish, who shares two sons, Ludo (6) and Charlie (3) with ex-husband Lawrence Faulborn, had both of her pregnancies featured on the police show.