How did NCIS write off Emily Wickersham's Ellie Bishop? Details revisited

Well-known NCIS star Emily Wickersham had a long-running streak as Eleanor Bishop, aka Ellie, for the iconic CBS procedural, and her exit is still one of the most debated topics among fans. Wickersham portrayed a significant figure (a special agent) on Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs' team and left the show in 2021 owing to personal reasons, as sources confirmed back then.

Ellie's departure from the hit CBS drama left viewers disappointed, and her exit fueled a lot of social media tumult owing to the way her character was written off. Eleanor's involvement in a potential NSA leak and her incomplete romance arc with Nicholas Torres (portrayed by Wilmer Valderrama) meant nothing but heartbreak for millions of NCIS fans. Keep reading to learn more about Emily Wickersham's exit.

How was Emily Wickersham's Ellie Bishop written out of NCIS? Details revealed

Emily Wickersham made her NCIS debut as Eleanor Ellie Bishop in the eleventh season (2013) of the CBS procedural, and her initial role was that of an analyst working for the NSA. Later on, Ellie was onboarded to the NCIS' Major Case Response Team as a full-time agent.

However, things went awry when Eleanor quit NCIS and went to work alongside CIA Agent Odette Malone, who mainly dealt with undercover operations on top-profile cases with fan-favorite Agent Ziva David (played by Cote de Pablo). While Ellie's resignation from the special agents team was intentional (as she wanted to associate with Odette Malone), the former made the whole incident apparently look like a major NSA document leak.

Viewers were even more shocked when Ellie herself revealed her involvement in the whole fiasco, and keeping the whole made-up cover story as the foreground, she left the agency. But NCIS fans would definitely be aware of why she did what she did - to work as a spy with agents like Ziva and Malone. Moreover, Wickersham's decision to leave NCIS also added to the character being suddenly written off, leaving a major plot loophole - until she was replaced by Katrina Law's Jessica Knight.

In a 2024 podcast named Off-Duty: An NCIS Rewatch, Emily Wickersham opened up about her departure from the CBS drama. As the star said, it was a lot for her being on NCIS (even though she enjoyed playing her part), as she would not really have "much time to do many things outside of that."

She further revealed that just a month after she left the show, Emily found out that she was pregnant. To quote her exact words:

"It took a while. I left the show, I found out I was pregnant a month later… So it was a combo of decompressing and trying to really relax and figure out how things were going to be without work. Because as you guys know, it's all consuming. Your life is all NCIS when you're on that show. It’s all day, every day, and you're not really left with much time to do many things outside of that. So that was a real adjustment for me."

Emily further added that she thought it was "weird" to leave NCIS, but it was "wonderful" at the same time. As she said on the podcast, it was time for her to "move on to something else," and "the something else" was good for her.

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Also Read: What role did Drew Carey play on NCIS? Character explored in depth

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