Finally, Chicago Fire’s Taylor Kinney Returns — With What May Be a Big Change For Severide

Firehouse 51 hasn’t been the same without Kelly Severide. After he temporarily exited the procedural mid-season, where is Taylor Kinney now after leaving Chicago Fire? See the latest photos of Severide below.

Chicago Fire is NBC’s hit firefighter drama series that follows the lives of firefighters, rescue personnel, and paramedics of the Chicago Fire Department’s fictional Firehouse 51. Produced by Dick Wolf’s production company, Chicago Fire premiered in 2012 and has inspired multiple spinoffs, including Chicago P.D., Chicago Med and the now-canceled Chicago Justice.
For over a decade, Taylor Kinney has portrayed Kelly Severide, the lieutenant of Firehouse 51 and officer in charge of Squad 3. Although Severide struggled with his family life and assumed a “playboy” status in earlier seasons, over time, he grew into a respectable leader and married the love of his life. As characters left (or were tragically killed off), Severide remained a constant in the Chicago Fire family. That’s why his unexplained exit from the show in 2023 was so emotional for One Chicago fans.

In January 2023, our sister site Deadline reported that Kinney was “taking a leave of absence to deal with a personal matter.” The show’s writers tackled Severide’s exit by sending him off to arson training. We received another update about Severide’s whereabouts in Season 11, Episode 21 “Change of Plans,” when Cruz (Joe Minoso) learned that Severide was no longer in Alabama at the arson investigation program. Finally, in May 2023, Variety reported that Taylor Kinney will not return as Severide for the remainder of Season 11. It’s uncertain whether he’ll return when Chicago Fire returns (which will likely in 2024 due to the ongoing Hollywood strikes).

After leaving the series, we kept tabs on the actor’s public appearances, which included being featured in an Instagram post from his girlfriend Ashley Cruger and a red carpet event. But the last we’d seen anything from Kinney was in April 2023 – until now. Where is Taylor Kinney now after leaving Chicago Fire? See the new photos of the actor and his girlfriend, below.

Where is Taylor Kinney now after leaving Chicago Fire?

Where is Taylor Kinney now after leaving Chicago Fire? The 42-year-old actor was spotted recently hanging out with his pal Johnny Louch and his adorable dog, Ruffles! Louch shared the sweet reunion between Kinney and his pup on his Instagram story on August 16, 2023. They both sang the lyrics “reunited and it feels so good” while Kinney was holding Ruffles.
On @Rufflesthelion’s Instagram page, we could see another photo of Kinney doing the kissy face while holding Ruffles, who has a huge smile on their face.

In this photo, some users commented on Kinney’s appearance, noticing that his hair is more grey than usual and that he looked sad. “He’s aged so much…..too much…man…he’s only 42 years old,” one person wrote. “He sometimes look like he’s been crying,” another added.
The actor was also seen in a photograph alongside Louch and entrepreneur Peter Adderton during a round of golf around the same time. “What a great morning with these two @taylorkinney111 @johnnylouch . Sure, we lost, but then again, so did the game of golf the way Johnny and I played,” Adderton penned in the caption.

Some fans were lucky enough to get a picture with Kinney while he was out and about. “Met my favorite (TV) firefighter today #chicagofire #taylorkinney,” the user who shared the photo wrote.
Louch’s wife, Kelly Louch, shared an Instagram story of Kinney snapping photos of his current girlfriend, Ashley Cruger. Cruger went Instagram official with Kinney in June 2022 after she posted a photo of them in Nice, France. While Kinney was off Chicago Fire, it looks like he and Cruger have stayed together. In April 2023, Cruger confirmed she and Kinney were still dating with a photo on Twitter of them and other friends at a restaurant. “So happy to see you and Taylor out with friends,” a Twitter user commented.