HBO Max's hit freshman medical drama series The Pitt is currently in production on its second season, and it was recently announced that actor Tracy Ifeachor, who played Dr. Collins on the show, would not be returning. This came as a shock to fans (even though Dr. Collins was not included in the last several episodes) because there wasn't a formal indication during the first season that Collins was looking to leave the hospital.
The day after it was announced she wouldn't be returning to The Pitt because her character's journey had come to an end, Ifeachor posted with excitement about currently working on M. Night Shyamalan's new film Remain. But fans were left wondering why Dr. Collins would not be working at the Pitt in season 2, and theories quickly spread across social media.
Noah Wyle addresses Tracy Ifeachor's departure
In short, fans assumed that she must have done something wrong to warrant being written out of the show. I won't go into specifics about those theories here, but some judgmental and hurtful comments were made to the point where Ifeachor's publicist released a statement to try and temper the rumors being shared online.
In the statement, her publicist confirmed that “Tracy was not fired. Dr. Heather Collins was simply not written in as a part of Season 2, which is a creative decision that has been confirmed by HBO." I understand Ifeachor's character on the show was just so loved that it didn't make sense to fans to see her leave without more closure to her story. But that's not an excuse to make wild speculations.
When speaking with Deadline, the show's executive producer and star Noah Wyle also shut down rumors and confirmed the original statement that Ifeachor's departure is entirely because of story. “I mean, we’ve all been sort of amused by the speculation about what everybody thinks might be a reason,” Wyle said. “But truthfully, she's a loved actress. We enjoyed having her with us very much. She’s gotten really big and we will miss her.”
The Pitt has been in production in Burbank since June 2025, and executive producers have also recently announced the addition of several new characters. Just like the first season, the new season will take place on July 4th over the course of one shift at The Pittsburgh Medical Trauma Center, with each episode showing us one hour of that shift.
HBO Max has announced that The Pitt season 2 will premiere early January 2026, with each episode dropping weekly on the HBO Max streaming platform. The second season is expected to have 15 episodes in total, just like with the first season.
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