Lori Loughlin Is Back in Hope Valley! The Actress Reprises ‘When Calls the Heart’ Role in Season 14, After 5-Year Break
Abigail Stanton is coming home to Hope Valley—and fans couldn't be more thrilled about her return
Hallmark fans know and love the cast and crew that has brought When Calls the Heart to life for the past 12 seasons, and over the course of the show’s run, many of our favorite characters have come and gone. One of the first characters we were introduced to in this show back in its debut season was Abigail Stanton, a widowed woman living in Coal Valley who lost both her husband and son in the tragic mining explosion. In the wake of these events, she became a pillar for the women in the community, and she and Elizabeth were fast friends. Abigail was brought to life by none other than Full House actress Lori Loughlin, but in Season 6, she departed the series. Now, however, fans are thrilled at the news that Abigail Stanton will be making her return in Season 14! Here, read everything we know about Lori Loughlin coming back to When Calls the Heart Season 14, and find out why the actress left the series in the first place.
Lori Loughlin on ‘When Calls the Heart’
Lori Loughlin’s character, Abigail Stanton, was an important piece of Elizabeth’s early journey in the show. She was strong yet warm and comforting, taking in her adopted children, Cody and Rebecca, when they arrived in Hope Valley. She has a few brushes with romance over the course of her time on the show, but by Season 6, her character says goodbye when she heads out east to care for her sick mother—but many fans wondered why she really left Hope Valley.
Why did Lori Loughlin leave ‘When Calls the Heart’?
In 2019, Lori Loughlin and her husband were involved in a highly publicized college admission scandal, in which they were accused of paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to get their daughters’ admission into the University of Southern California. As part of this operation, Loughlin and her husband allegedly paid someone to falsify their daughters’ records, allowing them both to be admitted to the university as recruits on their rowing team, though neither student was ever actually involved in rowing. Loughlin and her husband were two of many high-profile, wealthy public figures who took part in this operation, and after being found guilty of the crime, Lori Loughlin served two months of prison time, while her husband was sentenced to five months.
In 2024, in her first interview since her 2019 scandal, Lori Loughlin opened up to our sister site, FIRST for Women, about the importance of forgiveness and working through life’s difficulties. “Everyone has good times and bad times. That’s life. I think you just have to pick yourself up. Nobody said life was going to be a breeze. There’s beauty in life, but there’s also hardship in life.” She continued, “Stuff happens to everyone. We’ve all been in positions to ask for forgiveness, but to ask for it, you have to learn and know how to give forgiveness, too.”
Lori Loughlin is back for ‘When Calls the Heart’ Season 14
With When Calls the Heart Season 13 currently airing, fans were shocked to learn that Abigail Stanton would be making her return in the show’s following season. “Since the series’ debut in 2014, the character of Abigail Stanton was a fan favorite and beloved by the Hearties,” said Michelle Vicary, Hallmark Media’s head of programming, in a statement. “At its core, the Hallmark brand is about hope, positivity and connection, which is also the central theme of When Calls the Heart. We felt that Season 14 was the right time to continue Abigail’s story with her return to this beloved series.”
Where and when to watch ‘When Calls the Heart’ Season 13 and 14
Season 13 of When Calls the Heart is currently airing on the Hallmark Channel every Sunday at 8:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. CT. If you miss the live broadcast, new episodes are available for next-day streaming on the Hallmark+ platform. Live streaming options for those without cable include services that carry the Hallmark Channel, such as DIRECTV, Frndly TV, Fubo, Philo and Sling TV.
Regarding Season 14, Hallmark officially renewed the series in December 2025. Production for the 14th season is scheduled to begin later in 2026, with a premiere expected sometime in 2027. Lori Loughlin is set to reprise her role as Abigail Stanton in six of the season’s 12 episodes. We can’t wait to see what Abigail’s next chapter holds!
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