It may be time to break out your guitar and sing a sad tune: it sounds like Nashville star Connie Britton is eyeing an exit from the country-music drama in Season 5.
Britton, who plays lead character Rayna James on the show, is reportedly only going to be in 10 of 22 new ordered episodes in the new season. EW reports that the powers-that-be are trying to negotiate with Britton to get her to do the full 22 episodes, and co-star Hayden Panettiere has already agreed to be a part of the entire season.
READ MORE: Nashville saved, picked up for Season 5 by CMT after fan outcry
At this point, it’s unclear how James is going to be written off the show. Since her contract isn’t written in stone, it wouldn’t make sense for writers to finish off the character just yet.
The previously cancelled drama will be returning to CMT with new episodes on Jan. 5, 2017.
The series was cancelled by ABC after Season 4, and no longer aired on Canadian channels CTV or CHCH after the “series finale” (which is obviously no longer the series finale) aired on May 25.
After Nashville fans wrote petitions and pushed for the show to be renewed, CMT swooped in and saved it. A #BringBackNashville campaign continued on social media for a month, and self-proclaimed “Nashies” never gave up hope that they’d see more of the show.
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“CMT heard the fans,” said Brian Philips, president of CMT. “The wave of love and appreciation they have unleashed for Nashville has been overwhelming. Nashville is a perfect addition to our evolving lineup of big music specials, documentaries and original series. We see our fans and ourselves in this show and we will treasure it like no other network. Nashville belongs on CMT.”
Ed Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz will be back as showrunners for Season 5.
CMT reps in Canada are currently determining whether the show will broadcast north of the border starting Jan. 5.
Global News and CMT are divisions of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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