EXCLUSIVE: Rochelle Aytes is leaving S.W.A.T. as a series regular. In a quick turnaround, she has joined another CBS procedural, the upcoming medical drama Watson headlined by Morris Chestnut.
In a surprising move, CBS last month renewed for an eighth season having previously canceled the show after six seasons before reversing that decision to pick up a seventh and final season.
As new deals had to be made with the cast, Aytes, who plays Nichelle Carmichael, was not invited back as a series regular but the producers want to keep her in the S.W.A.T.
universe as Hondo’s (Moore) wife and mother to their child, and the hope is that she will recur next season. In a classic “when one door closes” situation, shortly after Aytes became available, she was approached for a series regular role on Watson, which is produced by CBS Studios.
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