'Blue Bloods': Why Bridget Moynahan Almost Turned Down the Role of Erin Reagan

Bridget Moynahan has enjoyed starring on Blue Bloods for over a decade now. It turns out, though, she nearly didn't accept the role of Erin Reagan way back when she was first offered it. She has shared that she had reservations about making that type of commitment due to her 3-year old son. Moynahan wasn't fully comfortable leaving him to take on a new television show, but thanks to fellow co-star Donnie Wahlberg, she wound up accepting the role.

"I called Bridget and said, 'You're doing this!'" Wahlberg told Watch! in a 2011 interview.

Her hesitancy in the early going also was because of her recent split from New England Patriots quarterback, Tom Brady. Shortly after their break-up and during the early going of Brady's new relationship with Gisele Bundchen, she revealed she was pregnant with Brady's baby.

All of that played a role in her feeling reluctant to take on the Blue Bloods job. The breakup was all over the tabloids, as well, which had her feeling a bit insecure.

"I would have cars following me, and men hiding in the bushes outside my house," she told Harper's Bazaar. "As a new mother, you want to just protect your child. That kind of attention felt like a threat."

"Going through that traumatic time of being heartbroken and then being pregnant turned my whole life upside down and inside out and just knocked the wind out of me," she explained "But I got so much out of that. It's golden and it's tough and it was f—ed up. But now I have a child, and it's the best thing in the world."

For fans of the series, Moynahan's presence on the show has been a blessing.

The series will pick back up at the end of January as viewers will be anticipating the series' next big storyline. One possibility is the expansion of the Reagan family between Eddie and Jamie.

"They are crazy about each other, but there's a lot they have to deal with and sort out," Vanessa Ray, who plays Eddie, told HollywoodLife of the two's relationship. "I'm the worst keep of secrets, so no, I don't know if they're going to start a family soon, but it's something they talk about a lot."

The next new episode of Blue Bloods, which will be entitled "Reckless" airs on Friday, Jan. 31 at 10 p.m. ET on CBS.