NCISfans are thrilled that Emily Wickersham has come back to play her beloved character, Ellie Bishop, for the show’s current 23rd season.
TV Insider reported that quite a few NCIS viewers let Wickersham know they were pleased to have caught a glimpse of Bishop during Season 23, Episode 9 (“Heaven and Nature”), which premiered on December 16, in the comments section of her latest Instagram post, uploaded in October 2025.
“I’ve never been so excited! Can’t wait to see you back on NCIS! You’re perfect for Bishop and I can’t wait to see what y’all do with the character!” wrote one fan.
“Ran over here to say WELCOME BACK TO NCIS GURLLLLL,” added another.
“Girl, the scream I let out when I saw you on NCIS again! Us fans have definitely missed you!” shared a different person.
“Thank you so much for coming back even if it’s short term. Missed Ellie I literally yelled & im not a loud person made my wife jump,” commented a fan.
“ellieeeeee is backkkkkkkkk!!!!” chimed in a fifth person.
According to TV Insider, Wickersham uploaded a screenshot that showed many of the positive comments she received on her October 21 Instagram post in a December 18 Instagram Story. She also shared a message for her supportive fans.
“All these comments are so sweet!” wrote Wickersham, who joined the NCIS cast for its 11th season and exited the show following season 18, which ended in 2021.
The Executive Producer of ‘NCIS’ Spoke About Emily Wickersham Returning to the Series
During a December 2025 interview with TV Insider, the executive producer of NCIS, Steven D. Binder, discussed Wickersham’s return to the series. According to Binder, the NCIS producers “wanted her back” on the show.
“[O]nce we started hearing that she might be interested, we were like, OK, well, we can start really seriously thinking about the things that we’ve been doing,” said Binder to TV Insider. “And one of the things that’s going on with the show is we’re exploring some relationships between our characters and some interesting mixing and matching.”
He also teased that fans can expect Bishop to reunite with Nick Torres, played byWilmer Valderrama.
“And we thought bringing Bishop in for Torres at this particular moment would upend an apple cart that’s coming down the pike after this episode airs and put a very interesting spin on it. Plus, he never got the closure that he felt he needed,” said the executive producer during the interview.
He also warned viewers that Bishop “is a very different person” since fans saw her in season 18.
“The world has beaten her up, and maybe a little too much, let’s put it that way. So, friends are enemies, enemies are friends in the world she’s in, and that’s how she views the world now, I think. And when she comes back, to people who were previously her friends, we may have to wonder where her head’s really at,” said Binder.
Emily Wickersham Discussed Her ‘NCIS’ Exit in an August 2024 Interview
Wickersham explained her decision behind her NCIS exit in an August 2024 interview on the Off Duty: An NCIS Rewatch podcast.
“I was ready to leave the show. It was time. And I was ready to move on to something else,” said Wickersham in the interview.
In addition, she said that “found out [she] was pregnant a month later” following her NCIS departure. She said that it took some time to “adjust” to focus on parenting her first child, Cassius, 3, whom she shares with her husband, James Badge Dale, and not working on NCIS.
“Your life is all NCIS when you’re on that show. It’s all day, every day,” said Wickersham, who also has a 1-year-old child, Zephyr, with Dale.
In addition, Wickersham said that NCIS fans will often approach her about her role.
“All of the sudden, I’m on the subway, and they’re like, ‘Did you play Ellie Bishop on NCIS?'” said the actress in the podcast interview.
