‘The Rookie’ Is Saying Goodbye to Tru Valentino’s Aaron Thorsen Ahead of Season 7
The Rookie is saying goodbye to officer Aaron Thorsen a.k.a. Tru Valentino ahead of season 7, Us Weekly can confirm.
Us learned on Thursday, August 8, that Valentino, 35, will not be reprising his role as Aaron on the upcoming season of the ABC cop drama, which is set to premiere in 2025. (TVLine was first to report the news.)
Valentino joined the show during season 4 in a recurring role capacity after Aaron was acquitted of a murder charge after his friend was found dead. Aaron’s rookie year was a PR disaster since he was also social media-famous, but in time, he found his footing at the Los Angeles police department.
The character was promoted to a series regular the following season and continued to be a fan favorite for season 6. Aaron learned the ropes of the LAPD under the guidance of Detective Nyla Harper (Mekia Cox) and later officer John Nolan (Nathan Fillion) when Nyla was on maternity leave.
Aaron also had an almost-romance with rookie Celina Juarez (Lisseth Chavez) during season 6, but it was short-lived.
While Valentino’s exit is surprising to many, some fans wondered about his future on the show when he was noticeably absent from The Rookie’s San Diego Comic-Con presentation last month.
The LAPD will not feel completely empty without Aaron when season 7 returns, as the rest of the main cast is set to return. Fillion, Cox, Alyssa Diaz (as Angela Lopez), Richard T. Jones (as Wade Grey), Melissa O’Neil (as Lucy Chen) and Eric Winter (as Tim Bradford) are all gearing up to reprise their roles.
There will also be a few new faces this season, including Deric Augustine and Patrick Keleher. Augustine will play Miles, who according to TVLine is a transfer from Texas that will be a rookie with the LAPD even though he’s been a cop for two years.
Keleher, meanwhile, is set to play Seth, who the outlet described as someone that seems like the “ideal police officer” but the “quick, decisive actions” required of the job aren’t things that “come naturally” to him.
Fans will have to wait until “midseason” to see how Aaron is written off the show, as ABC is holding season 7 until 2025.
The good news is that there will be 18 episodes this season, according to TVLine, and there won’t be any major breaks with content.
“They’re going to go straight through,” Disney Television Group president, Craig Erwich, told the outlet in May, noting Will Trent will have the same format and release plan. “And that kind of momentum of original episodes week-in and week-out is just a very powerful engine for both of these shows.”
