Kelli Giddish Returns to “Law & Order: SVU” for Season 26 Guest Appearance

The actress played Det. Amanda Rollins on the popular NBC series for 11 seasons before departing midway through season 24 in 2022

Kelli Giddish is back again as Amanda Rollins!

PEOPLE confirmed the actress, 44, is returning as a guest star on Law & Order: SVU.

She was spotted filming season 26 of the NBC procedural in New York City on Sept. 4, smiling as she walked down the street wearing a gray jacket and black pants on set.

Related: Kelli Giddish Returning to Law and Order: SVU for Season 25

Giddish originally departed the series midway through season 24 in December 2022, though she's made multiple cameos since.

For the season 24 finale, which was part of a crossover with Law & Order and Law & Order: Organized Crime, Giddish returned to reveal Rollins was pregnant and expecting her first child with Assistant District Attorney Dominick Carisi (Peter Scanavino).

She also appeared in the season 25 premiere in January, as Rollins and Carisi celebrated the baptism of their newborn son, Nicky, and again later in the season when having left her job as a professor at Fordham University, she was free to help Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) work an SVU case.

Related: 'Law and Order: SVU' Star Kelli Giddish Introduces Baby No. 3, Son Oldie: 'Truly Incredible'

Ahead of her departure in 2022, Giddish spoke exclusively to PEOPLE about her bittersweet exit.

"It's funny because, after last night's show, it does feel more final now. I didn't expect today to feel that way," she explained. "Now it's over and everyone's seen it. Everyone's gotten to experience it and feel all the feels that I felt, filming that last scene with Mariska."

In an interview with Variety, Hargitay, 60, described Giddish as "my favorite actor to work with" as she admitted that she didn't have the sway to convince SVU's creator, Dick Wolf, to keep Giddish on the show as Detective Amanda Rollins, despite now having more of a say on bigger decisions.

"It’s a sore subject," Hargitay admitted. "I have a lot of say on the show, but I didn’t have enough there.”

“I don’t like not being listened to, especially when I’m right. That relationship was one of the most powerful relationships in television because you saw these two badass women, so flawed and so there for each other," Hargitay added.

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Law & Order: SVU returns for season 26 Thursday, Oct. 3 at 9 p.m. ET on NBC.

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