‘Law & Order: SVU’: Major Alum Set to Return

The addition comes after Juliana Martinez and Octavio Pisano were announced to be departing after Season 26.

May 15, 2025, 3:36pm

Pictured: Mariska Hargitay as Capt. Olivia Benson — (Photo by: Ralph Bavaro/NBC)

Law & Order: SVU is bringing back a major alum for Season 27.

On the heels of Juliana Martinez and Octavio Pisano’s exits, the long-running NBC drama is welcoming back Kelli Giddish as Sergeant Amanda Rollins in a full-time return.

Videos by PopCulture.com

According to Deadline, Giddish will be coming back to SVU as a series regular for the upcoming season. The actress’ controversial exit came in the middle of Season 24 but she has made frequent returns since then. Her departure caused quite the uproar among fans and even the cast, and many had been hoping that she’d come back to the Special Victims Unit, especially since she appears so often still.

Pictured: Kelli Giddish as Sgt. Amanda Rollins — (Photo by: Virginia Sherwood/NBC)

Since Rollins currently works as a sergeant for the NYPD’s Intelligence Unit, it’s unknown if she will be moving back to the SVU or staying with Intelligence. Since the SVU will be down two detectives in Season 27, it’s possible Rollins will be coming back to her old stomping grounds. If anything, it will be nice to see her back on screens again and for more than one or two episodes. It’s what fans have been waiting for since it was announced Giddish would be departing the series, and soon, all will be right with the world again.

This isn’t the only shakeup that Law & Order: SVU will see for Season 27. After three seasons, David Graziano will be stepping down as showrunner. He will be replaced by The Boys co-showrunner Michele Fazekas, who will be the first female showrunner on SVU. The series was renewed for Season 27 just last week, but the renewal was expected, as it was previously reported that the renewal was pretty much guaranteed. Law & Order also got the green light for Season 25.

Meanwhile, Law & Order: SVU’s 26^th season will be coming to an end on Thursday at 9 p.m. ET on NBC. Even though the season will soon be over, fans will certainly have a lot to look forward to with Giddish’s highly-anticipated series regular return this fall. It is still sad that both Martinez and Pisano will be leaving, but Giddish is definitely making it a lot better, and it’s always possible they could return in the future, just like her. In the meantime, all episodes of SVU are streaming on Peacock.