Jenna Dewan. Disney/Gizelle Hernandez
Jenna Dewan finally addressed her absence from The Rookie.
Dewan, 44, took to Instagram ahead of the newest episode on Tuesday, January 21, to share a photo of her with 7-month-old daughter, Rhiannon, alongside an article that mentioned her maternity leave.
“Someone was being born,” she wrote in reference to the initial months The Rookie season 7 went into production. “But keep watching …”
The Rookie, which premiered in 2018, follows police officers from a precinct in Los Angeles. During Dewan’s absence, her character, Bailey Nune, has been on an overseas deployment with the National Guard. Showrunner Alexi Hawley previously confirmed that Bailey returns at the end of episode 3.
“Jenna’s about to have a baby in real life, so we do have to navigate that at the beginning of [season 7],” Hawley told TV Insider in May 2024. “So I think we’ll have to slow roll slightly [into] that, but yeah, look, especially in the adoption story, they do live dangerous lives. She’s going to have an ex-husband slash stalker out there. How does that impact them on a personal level will be interesting to explore.”
Bailey’s ex-husband Jason — played by Dewan’s real-life fiancé, Rhiannon’s dad Steve Kazee — appeared in the season 6 finale as Bailey and Nolan (Nathan Fillion) were beginning to talk about adopting a baby. According to Hawley, Jason will be the “most immediate problem” for the main characters.
“I think obviously Jason is the one with the most specific, the most harmful intent towards anybody on our show at the moment,” he added.
Jenna Dewan‘s romance with fiancé Steve Kazee hasn’t followed a traditional timeline — but they’re more in love than ever. Us Weekly confirmed the couple’s relationship in October 2018, six months after Dewan and estranged husband Channing Tatum announced their split. The exes were married for nine years and share daughter Everly. After nearly one […]
Fillion, meanwhile, hinted that Nolan and Bailey are going to be “solid” when she returns.
“There are going to be complications, there are going to be things that are problematic in their relationship as there are in all relationships,” he told TV Insider at the time. “I think that’s reality. But this is something I don’t think that drives a wedge between them. I think this is something that brings them closer together.”
In addition to Rhiannon, Dewan and Kazee, 49, share son Callum, who was born in 2020. The actress also shares daughter Everly, 11, with ex-husband Channing Tatum.
Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan navigated their divorce settlement for six years before settling in September 2024. Tatum and Dewan met on the set of 2006’s Step Up, where they played love interests. The pair soon found love offscreen, ultimately getting married in 2009. The actors went on to welcome daughter Everly in May 2013, […]
“It’s always a journey. It never ends,” Dewan told Romper in January 2024 about how she and Tatum, 44, have approached coparenting. “You just learn as you go and get better at certain things, and for me, Evie will always be my top priority. I just continually put her first. That’s how I can manage all hard things.”
After getting engaged to Kazee in 2020, Dewan explained why they have yet to walk down the aisle, telling Us in June 2023, “My family’s like, ‘When guys, when?’ We’ll get there. I promise, we’re getting there. We at least have the location, so we’ve gotten [a] step further. But it’s just been so busy, honestly. Life has been so busy, and work’s been busy.”
The Rookie airs on ABC Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET.
