Lori Loughlin’s ‘When Calls The Heart’ Co-Star Paul Greene Speaks out About Scandal

Lori Loughlin pleaded not guilty to her alleged role in the college admissions scandal on Monday, marking a continuation in the ongoing legal case that could see the actress doing some serious prison time for her role in the scheme.

While some of her friends have been distancing themselves, Loughlin’s When Calls the Heart co-star Paul Greene has publicly extended his support for Loughlin, explaining during an appearance on Popcorn Talk Network’s I Could Never Be series that his friendship with Loughlin is strong.

“We’ve all known Lori for a really long time,” he said. “And when someone’s your friend and something happens to them, you don’t stop being their friend. You support, no matter what happens.”

“I can only speak for myself,” Greene added. “All I do know is that if you had a good friend and they were accused of something, you haven’t even heard their side yet, you’d be there for them no matter what.”

“Everyone’s human,” he continued. “If I, Paul, all of a sudden there was some weird thing and it came out that I was being accused of something and you haven’t heard my side yet and I wasn’t supported by my friends, I’d be like, ‘Are you really my friend?’”

Loughlin had starred on the Hallmark Channel’s series for years before Hallmark’s parent company originally announced that it was cutting ties with Loughlin in a statement in March.

“We are saddened by the recent news surrounding the college admissions allegations. We are no longer working with Lori Loughlin and have stopped development of all productions that air on the Crown Media Family Network channels involving Lori Loughlin including ‘Garage Sale Mysteries,’ an independent third party production,” Crown Media Family Networks said in the statement, via Variety.

The show has since been renewed for a seventh season without Loughlin, and Greene shared that the series has been adapting to her absence.

“They’re doing some reshoots in Canada, and I mean, everybody has really been very, very careful ’cause it’s a very sensitive time,” he said. “Everybody is trying to collect themselves and pull it all together, make a statement that doesn’t offend, but still supports, that’s loving.”

“But also everyone’s dotting their i’s and crossing their t’s on the corporate side,” he added. “Every angle you could look at this [from] has had to have been handled very carefully.”

Greene explained that despite the set back for the show, he thinks the difficulties will only strengthen the relationships between everyone involved with the series.

“Adversity brings family together. It really does,” he said. “I’m talking about the whole thing — between the characters and the actors, between, the fans and the relationship and the love they have for the show.”

“I feel like everyone’s really pulling together now and doing the very best that they can with what they’ve been given,” Greene continued. “And still time will tell. Things are going to continue to unravel and I think we’ll look back on this as a moment that everybody was very generous — especially the Hearties, they’ve been generous and patiently waiting. It really does speak to the loyalty of our fans.”

Photo Credit: Getty / Paul Archuleta