Upton is out. But why did Tracy Spiridakos leave Chicago P.D. after seven seasons as Detective Hailey Upton? And what was the real reason behind her exit? Keep reading to find out.
Chicago P.D. is NBC’s police procedural series following the personal and professional lives of officers and detectives at the fictional 21st District of the Chicago Police Department. Spiridakos came on board in Season 4 as Detective Hailey Upton, a former robbery-homicide detective who joined the team as a replacement for Detective Erin Lindsay (Sophia Bush). She was promoted from recurring to a series regular in Season 5.
After five seasons as Upton, news broke in October 2023 that Spiridakos was planning on leaving Chicago P.D. after Season 10. Here’s everything we know about why Tracy Spiridakos leftChicago P.D. and how the show wrote out Hailey Upton.
Why is Tracy Spiridakos leaving Chicago P.D.?
Spiridakos broke her silence on her departure ahead of the Season 11 finale, “More,” which marked her last episode as Upton. In an interview with Variety, the actress revealed that she made the decision to leave at the end of her sixth season because she was ready to move on from the series. “I had reached out to Gwen and to everyone at Wolf to let them know that I just wanted to do one more year. I wanted us to send out the character with one last season,” Spiridakos told the outlet. She continued: “It was a hard decision — very, very hard. I love everybody on the show — cast, crew, producers, writers, everybody. It’s such an incredible team. I was just curious what was out there for me and wanted to switch it up, and that was it.”
She added that she hoped to take Upton’s “vulnerability” and “strength” with her. “For me, I’m not great at vulnerability. As an individual, I usually make awkward jokes,” she said. “So that’s something that I really love about her — that and how she is so much herself. She doesn’t care if you love her or if you don’t. Those are the two qualities that I hope have rubbed off on me a little bit, particularly the vulnerability.”
Spiridakos also hinted in an interview with NBC Insider after her exit that she left Chicago P.D. to pursue different opportunities. “It was a really hard decision, and I don’t know that there’s ever a right time,” she said. “I think I’ve been on the show for just over seven years, like seven and a half-ish years, and I was just wanting to switch it up and kind of see what else was out there. That was really it. I’m so close with everybody. With our producers, Gwen, our writers, our cast, our crew. It was a really difficult and emotional time, for sure.”
Spiridakos’ exit came on the heels of Jesse Lee Soffer, who played her character’s love interest, Detective Jay Halstead, from Seasons 1 to 10. Soffer exited the show for similar reasons, telling Variety in 2022 that he wanted “more” as an actor. “I’ve thought so hard about how to answer this question — and there’s no good answer. Except I was ready for more,” he said at the time when asked why he left Chicago P.D. “Eventually, you know the character so well, there’s not much that can shift or transform.”
