‘When Calls the Heart’ Bombshell: Is Erin Krakow Leaving Show?

Martin Holmes February 23, 2024, 8:09 am

Erin Krakow in When Calls the Heart — David Dolsen / Hallmark Channel / Everett Collection

When Calls the Heart is one of the Hallmark Channel‘s most popular shows, thanks in part to its lead star, Erin Krakow, who plays the passionate Elizabeth Thornton.

However, a new interview with the show’s co-creator and executive producer, Brian Bird, hints at a possible future without Krakow. Speaking to Soaps.com, Bird opened up about whether the hit series could survive if Krakow were ever to leave Hope Valley.

“I do [think it could survive],” Bird said. “Not that I would ever want to have to do that or that any of us would ever want to have to do that. We do think [Erin] is the absolute source of everything on When Calls the Heart, and we love her. We hope we don’t wear her out and tire her of this whole thing. She could be there forever as far as I’m concerned.”

Krakow rose to prominence playing Specialist Tanya Gabriel in the Lifetime television drama series Army Wives from 2010 to 2012. She joined When Calls the Heart in 2014, playing the role of Elizabeth, which Poppy Drayton originated in the movie that spawned the series.

In recent years, Krakow has become an in-demand actress, though the Hallmark network has tried to keep her within the family. She has starred in several Hallmark romance movies, including Sense, Sensibility & Snowmen, It Was Always You, and The Wedding Cottage.

At Hallmark Media’s presentation at the Television Critics Association’s winter session earlier this month, it was announced that Krakow will reunite with her former When Calls the Heart co-star Daniel Lissing for a new holiday movie, Santa Tell Me.

With Krakow in high demand, Bird touched on what When Calls the Heart would look like without its lead star. The producer emphasized that “the biggest star of the show is the community.”

“People have fallen in love with the community and then they have these focal points with specific characters that they’re deeply in love with,” Bird explained. “And I do believe that the show could continue if we had to by morphing, if necessary.”

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Bird pointed to Lissing’s exit after Season 5 as an example of how the show is able to move forward and focus on new characters. Lissing played Elizabeth’s lover and eventual husband Jack Thornton on the series before he was killed off-screen in a Mountie training camp in Season 5.

“Daniel Lissing wanted to move on after Season 5, and for us, it was hard, but it was a ‘God bless you, Dan. We want you to thrive. We want you to pursue all the dreams of your heart,” Bird shared. ‘So, we would never hold anybody back if they felt like there were other things they wanted to do and needed to do.’

He continued, “This is the kind of town it is. But I do think there’s a life beyond — it’s bigger than any of the individual characters for the show.”

Season 11 of When Calls the Heart is set to premiere on Sunday, April 7, at 9/8c and will run for 12 episodes.

When Calls the Heart, Season 11, Premieres, Sunday, April 7, 9/8 c, Hallmark Channel