Upon it’s premiere in 2010, the show Blue Bloods became an unlikely late-career hit for Tom Selleck. And the show is still going strong today with 12 seasons under it’s belt so far! The show centers on Tom Selleck as New York Police Commissioner Frank Reagan. The supporting characters consist of Frank Reagan’s family, some of whom work under him on the force. Standout characters include Detective Danny Reagan, played by Donnie Wahlberg, and District Attorney Erin Reagan, played by Bridget Moynahan. Though the core cast of the show claims to be as tight-knit as family. There are a few notable players that have come and gone from the series over the course of it’s long run. From Amy Carlson as Linda Reagan to Sami Gayle as Nicky Reagan. Join Facts Verse as we explore all of the Blue Bloods cast members who left the show for controversial reasons.
Amy Carlson as Linda Reagan
For many years, Amy Carlson could seen on Blue Bloods portraying the character of Linda Reagan. Linda’s connection to the show’s venerable Reagan family came from her marriage to Donnie Wahlberg’s Detective Danny Reagan. And the character became a bigger and bigger part of the series over the course of it’s early run. During the first season of the show, Amy Carlson simply billed as a reoccurring cast member that showed up rather sporadically. However, the few appearances that she made were enough for the character to develop some fans of her own. And the producers of the series quickly realized that Amy Carlson had more potential on the show than they initially thought.
Amy Carlson’s role on Blue Bloods bumped up significantly starting in the show’s second season. And then it bumped up even more significantly starting in it’s fifth. By the show’s fifth season, Amy had become a full-blown main cast member. Sadly, Amy would only get to enjoy two seasons of being a main cast member on Blue Bloods before her character unceremoniously killed off. And for reasons that the actress herself doesn’t seem to be fully aware of. The character of Linda Reagan killed off between the seventh and eight seasons of the series. With the reason given for her death being that she died in a helicopter crash. Linda was an emergency room nurse. And she tending to a patient on a medevac helicopter when the helicopter tragically crashed, killer her in the process.
Not all that much made of Linda’s death on the series. And many fans wondered why Amy Carlson had exited from the show so abruptly. Many wondered if it had been a choice of the actress. But Amy seems to have been just as baffled by the decision as fans were. Not only is Amy unsure why she written off the series. But she also has a problem with the unceremonious nature of the way the show’s creative staff chose to handle her character’s death. After seven seasons, there were many audience members who had grown to care for the character of Linda Reagan deeply. And these characters essentially left in the cold with the character’s off-screen death between seasons.
If Amy Carlson had gotten her way, she claims that she would’ve figured out a much nicer way to write the character of Linda Reagan off of Blue Bloods. However, this wasn’t the case! Due to the fact that Linda killed off. There’s no chance of her character ever returning to the series. However, this isn’t the case for a few other stars that have exited from the series over the course of it’s long run. Amy Carlson at least wishes that her character’s death could’ve shown on the screen. And which she thinks would’ve been more respectful to both the character and the audience.
Jennifer Esposito as Detective Jackie Curatola
Jennifer Esposito is another former cast member from Blue Bloods who started out with a relatively small role during the show’s first season before given more to chew on as the show went on. Unlike Amy Carlson, Jennifer Esposito never got the chance to become a full-blown cast member on the series. Though this seems to have been more due to a personal choice by the actress than the show’s creative staff not interested in developing her character.
Jennifer Esposito played the character of Detective Jackie Curatola on Blue Bloods throughout it’s first three seasons before written off the series by the fourth. The reason given for the character of Jackie no longer being on the show was that she retired from the force after experiencing burnout. The real reason that Jackie was no longer on the series because Jennifer Esposito nervous about the increased filming schedule. It is because the show’s creative staff was asking her to commit to for the fourth season.
Apparently, Jennifer Esposito wanted to keep her role on Blue Bloods relatively small. And while the show’s creative staff wanted to give the character of Jackie more to do. Jennifer’s reason for wanting to keep her filming schedule small because she had just diagnosed with Celiac disease. And also trying to get used to living with the condition. Despite the fact that Jennifer had medical reasons for not wanting to increase her role on the series it. And still made the show’s producers upset. Jennifer ended up written off of the show completely. And the actress claims that Jennifer treated very nicely by CBS upon being let go.
According to Jennifer Esposito, she upset with the way that CBS handled her firing. Though the actress didn’t want to increase her presence on Blue Bloods, she was counting on the show’s consistent employment. When executives caught wind that Jennifer wasn’t willing to fall in line with their plans for the series, they put her on unpaid leave. This greatly inconvenienced the actress. And the fact that she still technically committed to the series for the time being and couldn’t work elsewhere added salt to the wounds. Thankfully, Jennifer Esposito overcame this difficult period and can now seen on the Netflix series Inventing Anna.
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Nick Turturro as Sergeant Anthony Renzulli
Nick Turturro was a reoccurring cast member on Blue Bloods that made several dozen appearances on the show portraying the character of Sergeant Anthony Renzulli. Sadly, Nick hasn’t seen on the series since 2016. And the reason for this has yet to made clear by the show’s creative staff. Despite this, Nick is still hard at work performing in other roles. And the actor has even expressed a desire on social media for fans to reach out to the people in charge over at Blue Bloods and try to get them to bring Sergeant Anthony Renzulli back. And maybe even give him his own spin-off series. If this statement is to taken at face value, one can assume that Nick is truly anxious to get back to Blue Bloods. And that his exit from the series was out of his control.
However, some have speculated that the actor being facetious. And simply joking about his character’s unceremonious departure from the popular show. Nick is the less famous brother of actor John Turturro. Though he has appeared in a few notable films himself, including the Academy Award-winning BlackKkKlansman.
David Ramsey as Mayor Carter Poole
Ramsey another reoccurring cast member that made many appearances on Blue Bloods before unceremoniously disappearing from the series several years into it’s run. David played the character of Mayor Carter Poole. It is who elected during the show’s second season. And made several notable appearances before disappearing at the start at the show’s eighth season. Part of the reason for David not showing up on Blue Bloods anymore may be that the actor has been busy working on various shows within the Arrowverse. And which is the name given to a network-spanning group of DC Comics adapted series that all take place within the same comic-book universe.
David has seen on three of these series, with those being Arrow, The Flash, and Legends of Tomorrow. Despite the fact that David hasn’t seen on Blue Bloods since it’s seventh season, there’s always a chance that his character will pop up again.
Sami Gayle as Nicky Reagan
The last star we’ll be taking a look at in this video is Sami Gayle. Sami Gayle has portrayed the character of Nicky Reagan on Blue Bloods since the series picked up. Though a different actress played the character in the pilot. Though Sami’s exit from Blue Bloods has yet to officially announced. The actress hasn’t made an appearance on the show since an early episode of it’s tenth season. Given that the show is now wrapping up it’s twelfth, this absence has understandably come to disturb some fans of the character.
Nicky is the daughter of District Attorney Erin Reagan, and she was incredibly young when the series started. The character began to show up less several seasons ago. With the reason given for her decreased presence being that she was going to college. The true reason for Nicky’s decreased presence was that Sami herself was going to college!
Fans have continued to pry for answers about where Sami is and if she’ll ever be back. It seems that the actress is taking some time to herself after having suffered through an incredibly busy schedule in the past few years with both filming of the series and school. Her social media is filled with vacation photos, suggesting that the actress is taking it easy. Sami will likely return to Blue Bloods at least once before the show runs it’s course so that Nicky Reagan can have at least one more dinner scene with her family!
All of these cast members can no longer seen on Blue Bloods. There are still plenty of cast members that are still with the show! Now it’s time to hear from you: did you know that Blue Bloods’ Nick Turturro is the brother of film actor John Turturro. And that Jennifer Esposito booted off the series because the show didn’t want to accommodate the actress’s recently diagnosed Celiac disease? As always, like this video to show your support. And subscribe and hit the notification bell if you’d like to be among the first to know when more Facts Verse videos are on their way!
