Will Chase and Aubrey Peeples are likely to depart the country music drama as series regulars ahead of its move to CMT, but they may recur in the upcoming season.
- Jun 23, 2016
AceShowbiz - At least two characters are not coming back to "Nashville" ahead of its move to CMT. Will Chase and Aubrey Peeples are reportedly not going to return as series regulars for the upcoming fifth season, which has been ordered by the cable channel following its cancellation at ABC.
Their departures, which were first reported by TVLine, don't come as a huge surprise given their storylines at the end of season 4. Chase's Luke didn't have a lot to do after his engagement to Rayna (Connie Britton) ended in season 3. Season 4 had him sticking with his pal Will (Chris Carmack) who was dealing with homophobia, but Will seemed to have found success.
As for Peeples' Layla, her plans to seek revenge for Jeff Fordham's (Oliver Hudson) death by destroying Juliette's (Hayden Panettiere) life were ruined by Avery (Jonathan Jackson) in season 4. Career wise, her new album was about to be a success.
Chase and Peeples, however, may still appear as guest stars in the fifth season. According to The Hollywood Reporter, no other star is going to exit the series as talks with the remaining series regulars, including Britton and Panettiere, are going well.
CMT officially picked up "Nashville" for a 22-episode season 5 earlier this month. Executive producers Marshall Herskovitz and Ed Zwick were recently tapped as showrunners, replacing longtime showrunner Dee Johnson.
