Find out why Taylor Kinney is stepping away from 'Chicago Fire'

WASHINGTON: Actor Taylor Kinney, best known for portraying the role of Kelly Severide on 'Chicago Fire' is stepping away from the NBC drama, the actor is on a leave of absence to deal with a personal matter.

According to Variety, a US-based news outlet, since its premiere in 2012, Kinney has served as the series' protagonist. He has been in all of the spinoffs in addition to the firefighter series, such as "Chicago Med," "Chicago P.D." and the brief "Chicago Justice."

Over the past few years, there have been numerous changes in the "One Chicago" universe, particularly in "Chicago Fire." After 200 episodes, Jesse Spencer left the programme in 2021, but he made a brief surprise appearance in the Season 10 finale, in which Kinney's Severide married Stella (Miranda Rae Mayo).

The end of Season 11 marks the departure of co-creator Derek Haas from Wolf Entertainment. He worked as a showrunner for all 11 seasons of "Chicago Fire" and on CBS' "FBI: International." In addition, Jesse Lee Soffer's departure from "Chicago P.D." has left many in shock.

After starring in the police drama for 10 seasons, he made his final appearance in an episode in October when his character joined an Army team that was pursuing the Cartel in Bolivia for eight weeks. He informed his wife Hailey (Tracy Spiridakos) by phone during the most recent episode that he would be extending his stay.

There have been a lot of changes this season on "Chicago Med," with Guy Lockard, Sarah Rafferty, and Asjha Cooper all leaving the show. After briefly returning to the programme in a recurrent capacity, Yaya DaCosta and Brian Tee, a regular on the show, left once more in the middle of the episode.