‘When Calls the Heart’ Renewed for Season 7 by Hallmark Channel Without Lori Loughlin

When Calls the Heart will return for a seventh season despite Lori Loughlin‘s firing.

Days after announcing the show’s Season 6 return, series star Erin Krakow announced the happy news during the premiere of the Hallmark Channel‘s new TV movie, Bottled With Love.

“I am thrilled to announce When Calls the Heart Season 7, coming next year,” she told TVLine. “We can’t wait to get back to Hope Valley.”

The news comes days after the cable network announced the period drama series will return with new episodes on Sunday, May 5. The premiere will mark the first episode since the show went on a sudden break to make adjustments after news broke of Loughlin’s involvement in the college admissions cheating scandal.

A new episode is also slated to air on Monday, May 6, with the show returning to its usual time slot of Sundays at 8 p.m. after the installment.

Loughlin and husband Mossimo Giannulli were indicted in March in connection with a bribery scheme. The couple allegedly paid $500,000 in order to secure a spot for their daughters, Isabella, 20, and Olivia, 19, at the University of Southern California by falsely categorizing them as student athlete recruits.

Hallmark Channel cut ties with Loughlin after her arrest and When Calls the Heart took a break in order to explore its “creative options.”

“We are saddened by the recent news surrounding the college admissions allegations,” A statement from parent company Crown Media said at the time. “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 [Loughlin] including Garage Sale Mysteries, an independent third party production.”

Reports surfaced earlier this week that the actress’ character, Abigail Stanton, the Mayor of Hope Valley, will be edited out of the remaining Season 6 episodes.

Series producer Brian Bird recently spoke about the beloved series’ return, writing on Instagram: “Life throws all of us painful curveballs, and the only way to survive is to walk right through them with courage, grace, a forgiving spirit, and most of all, hope. Many of you have wondered what the future holds for our cast and crew, and for the citizens of Hope Valley. Your care and concern means the world to us, and the best way we can thank you is to encourage you the way you encourage us because … Hope always lives here.”

It has not been revealed if the series will recast Loughlin’s character, or if she will be written out of the series entirely.

Loughlin was also reportedly cut out of any future appearances on the final season of Netflix’s Fuller House.