Why Did NCIS’ Emily Wickersham Leave & Could She Return?

Emily Wickersham’s Eleanor “Ellie” Bishop last appeared as one of the main cast members in NCIS in Season 18 Episode 16, which aired back in 2021. Although her character was part of the plot of Season 21 Episode 2, her appearance was uncredited. Ellie is a popular character among the fans, so there is considerable interest in her potential return to the show.

Here is everything you need to know about why Wickersham left NCIS and whether she can return.

Why did Emily Wickersham leave NCIS?

Wickersham portrayed Ellie for eight years between 2013 and 2021 and didn’t really clarify her reasons for leaving the show at the time.

However, during her recent appearance on the Off Duty: An NCIS Rewatch podcast, hosted by fellow NCIS alums Michael Weatherly and Cote de Pablo, Wickersham finally spoke about her departure.

“Because as you guys know, it’s all consuming,” the actress recalled about her time on the show. “Your life is all NCIS when you’re on that show. It’s all day, every day, and you’re not really left with much time to do many things outside of that. So that was a real adjustment for me.”

Wickersham reportedly left NCIS on her terms, and after a month she discovered that she was pregnant. Reflecting on her life immediately after NCIS, she said, “So it was a combo of decompressing and trying to really relax and figure out how things were going to be without work.”

What happened to Ellie Bishop in NCIS?

Introduced as a replacement for de Pablo’s Ziva David, Ellie became an integral part of Gibbs’ team.

She eventually left them after admitting that she leaked a classified NSA file years earlier and subsequently joined former CIA instructor Odette Malone on a mission.

How Emily Wickersham’s Ellie Bishop could return to NCIS?

It is unclear whether Wickersham will ever return to NCIS as Ellie.

But given that other actors, including Weatherly and de Pablo, have reprised their characters over the years, the possibility can’t be ruled out. If there is narrative scope for it and there is an agreement between Wickersham and the showrunners on the matter, the fans may see Ellie again.