Why Did These BLUE BLOODS Characters Suddenly Leave the Show?

Published: November 21, 2025

By India McCarty

Plenty of BLUE BLOODS characters made their exits from the show over the years, but some were more unexpected than others. Here are the stories behind why some of your favorite characters left BLUE BLOODS suddenly.

Jennifer Esposito’s Detective Jackie Curatola, partner to Donnie Wahlberg’s Detective Danny Reagan, left the show in Season 3. While BLUE BLOODS explained her character’s absence with a leave-of-absence to deal with work stress, Esposito really left due to an on-set collapse caused by celiac disease.

Esposito later said she asked CBS to rework her schedule to accommodate her condition, but the network ended up suspending her.

“CBS…PUT me on unpaid leave and has blocked me from working anywhere else after my doc said u needed a reduced schedule due to celiac,” Esposito tweeted at the time. “CBS didn’t listen to my doc and I collapsed on set. Which everyone saw! After a week off my doc said I could return to work but CBS implied that I was NOT truly ill and this was a scheme to get a raise!”

A statement from CBS TV Studios read, “Jennifer has informed us that she is only available to work on a very limited part-time schedule. As a result, she’s unable to perform the demands of her role and we regretfully had to put her character on a leave of absence…We hope that she will be able to return at some point in the future.”

While Esposito’s character was written out of the show, she returned in later seasons as a guest star.

Amy Carlson, who played Danny’s wife Linda Reagan, exited BLUE BLOODS after the show’s seventh season for a much less dramatic reason; her contract was up, and Carlson was simply ready to move on to other projects. The writers explained Linda’s absence at the start of Season 8, saying she had died in a helicopter crash off-screen.

In an interview with Deadline, Carlson said she “wouldn’t have done” what the writers did to her character, adding, “I think it’s been hard on the fans. I never wanted it to end that way, so I feel sad for the fans because everyone wants closure, and I hear that a lot from the fans.”

Another simple exit? Sami Gayle, who played Nicki Reagan, Erin Reagan’s daughter. Gayle left the series midway through Season 10 after her character accepted a job in San Francisco — and Gayle focused on her attendance at Columbia University.

This character’s disappearance was so fast, even major BLUE BLOODS fans might not have noticed it.

Flex Alexander played Detective Demarcus King and Danny’s partner in the BLUE BLOODS pilot but was replaced after that first episode with Esposito so Danny could have a female partner.

We might have missed seeing these characters in seasons of BLUE BLOODS, but maybe they’ll show up again in spin-off BOSTON BLUE? Only time will tell!

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