Latest news with #Ifeachor
Yahoo
14-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'The Pitt' star's reps deny she was fired over 'gay exorcisms' church
News that Tracy Ifeachor wouldn't be returning to season two of The Pitt came as a shock to fans last week. But the drama that's now surrounding her exit to say the least. Multiple outlets reported the news that Ifeachor wouldn't be reprising her role as Dr. Heather Collins in the HBO Max medical drama, with TV Line citing sources claiming the decision was "a creative one," rather than Ifeachor leaving of her own accord. Although there are plenty of instances where a character is written off for narrative reasons with no sordid story behind the actor's departure, "creative differences" has long been a catch-all in Hollywood for "something happened and we're not going to talk about it publicly." This led to fans digging into Ifeachor's social media and realizing she has ties to a controversial megachurch in the UK known as Jesus House. Pink News reported in 2021 that Jesus House has been subject to accusations that it performs "gay exorcisms," though its pastor has denied those claims and said the church does "not engage in any form of conversion therapy" and is not "anti-anyone." However, as anyone intimately familiar with religion knows, careful wording and hedging leaves a lot of space, and PinkNews pulled further receipts at the time calling up the pastor's previous campaigning against LGBTQ+ rights and the church's somewhat more recent comparisons of homosexuality to bestiality. With Ifeachor's exit being as unexpected as it was, some fans started wondering if her religious affiliation, perhaps, played into things. One rumor suggested that she hadn't wanted to partake in the abortion storyline the way it was written, while other people were just focused on the whole "gay exorcisms" bit. — (@) "finding tracy ifeachor is part of a mega church that does exorcisms on gay people was not on my 2025 bingo card" — (@) "Me on the set of The Pitt making direct eye contact with Tracy Ifeachor:" — (@) "tracy ifeachor when she saw all the ships of her w other pitt women" — (@) "Would you rather have a Scientology son or whatever the fuck Tracy Ifeachor is involved in daughter. You cannot kill yourself" Ifeachor's reps caught wind of the social media storm and put out a statement claiming that the actress's beliefs have nothing to do with why she left the show and that she's, like, nice to gay people and stuff. "These claims are entirely false. First, 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," they told The Mirror US. "This gossip could not be further from the truth. She is a woman who leads with love, kindness, and compassion, and as her very gay publicist, I can say that I see this daily, firsthand." Unfortunately, as we all know, someone having gay friends doesn't stop them from having homophobic viewpoints, let alone being affiliated with organizations that have homophobic stances, whether or not they share them. Having played a lesbian pirate also doesn't prevent homophobia. On the flip side, a number of people who attend anti-gay churches don't necessarily agree with those beliefs, and some aren't even aware of them at all. from popculturechat Potential ignorance isn't really a great excuse for associating with a possibly harmful organization, but it does leave us in the dark as to where Ifeachor actually stands personally — and what the real reason behind her exit from The Pitt might be. This article originally appeared on Pride: 'The Pitt' star's reps deny she was fired over 'gay exorcisms' church
Tom's Guide
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Tom's Guide
'The Pitt' season 2 shocker: Major cast member won't return
To those of you 'The Pitt' fans who have been not-so-secretly shipping senior attending physician Dr. Michael "Robby" Robinavitch (Noah Wyle) and E.R. senior resident Dr. Heather Collins (Tracy Ifeachor) on the hit HBO medical drama, we've got some bad news: Ifeachor will not be returning for "The Pitt" season 2, per an exclusive report from TVLine. Ifeachor portrayed Dr. Collins since the medical drama premiered back in January 2025 (and quickly became appointment television for both critics and viewers alike). The last time we saw the character was in episode 11, near the end of their 15-hour shift, when she revealed to her colleague/onetime paramour Dr. Robby that she had experienced a miscarriage earlier in the day. After Robby told her to go home early and rest, Collins was absent from the final four episodes of the hospital-set series. And now it looks like she will be fully absent from the show's upcoming second season, with TVLine reporting that the departure was a creative choice from the production team, rather than Ifeachor's decision. Season 2 will reportedly catch up with the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Hospital staff approximately 10 months after the events of season 1, covering another 15-hour shift during a Fourth of July holiday weekend. We expect that Ifeachor's exit from the series, as well as seemingly Dr. Collins's exit from the hospital, will be explained via that time jump. Ifeachor posted to Instagram about her time on the HBO drama, writing: 'What a blessing to be a part of this first and foundational season of #ThePitt on [HBO Max]. It was an absolute privilege to play Dr. Heather Collins in such a groundbreaking season and piece. Thank you to everyone who has watched & supported Season 1 & shared their stories with me.' Tracy Ifeachor's Instagram A photo posted by on Series star and producer Noah Wyle previously explained Dr. Collins's absence from the first season's final episodes, sharing on a podcast appearance on The Watch: Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. 'The whole end of the season is just removing bearing walls from Robby's life. He leans so heavily on Collins and Langdon, and then you take them both away from him… he leans so heavily on Dana, and then she becomes compromised… and then his one last relationship to Jake is severed when he can't save his girlfriend. The thinking was, 'let's take away all this guy's support system and have him out there [alone].' The actor added: '[Collins] would have maybe been one of those voices that could have reached [Robby], and we didn't want him to be reachable.' Tom's Guide will keep you posted on all things related to 'The Pitt' season 2, which is expected to debut on HBO and Max in January 2026, including casting news, plot details, teaser trailers and more.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘The Pitt' star Tracy Ifeachor thinks about Collins and Robby's backstory ‘all the time': ‘It just didn't work out because it's not the right time'
Tracy Ifeachor remembers the moment she knew The Pitt would be a hit — and it's not tied to any one episode or fan reaction. "I want to say something really profound here, but instead I'll say I remember coming in one day and saying to Noah [Wyle], 'Now I know this show is going to be an absolute smash hit because I got my identity stolen three times in the course of a week and all these different things happened,'" Ifeachor tells Gold Derby. "Got stuck in customs. I went, 'There's a lot opposing me when that happened.' I was like, 'Yeah, yeah, this is going to be something.' ... So when, like, 50 bad things happen on a single day, you've got to know that something great is coming around the corner." More from GoldDerby Everything to know about 'The Devil Wears Prada' sequel: Official release date set for May 1, 2026 Cannes 2025 wrap: 'Sentimental Value,' Jennifer Lawrence, June Squibb, and the 2026 Oscar contenders to know 'Ren Faire' director Lance Oppenheim on the corrupting influence of power and accidentally capturing 'America in miniature' In all seriousness, Ifeachor knew the medical drama was a special project from the start between the "amazing cast" and the involvement of executive producer and director John Wells. "I remember feeling like, 'Yeah, this feels special. It feels good. It feels right and truthful." A classically trained actor, the Brit was also attracted to the theater-esque nature of the show that unfolds over 15 episodes a season in real time. The Pitt shoots on a full hospital set in continuity, so everyone is basically around all the time, if not on camera. "I love this kind of, 'Roll up your sleeves. Everybody's there together.' I really enjoy working like that and I really enjoy collaboration. So that's the thing that really makes my heart sing when we get to collaborate," Ifeachor says. "There was a 10-minute discussion — didn't stop a camera — but it was a 10-minute discussion [about] whether or not I could roll my sleeves up because they had just seen me four minutes ago. So yes, they took it very seriously." SEE 'I've never been on a show that got this kind of recognition': Katherine LaNasa on The Pitt's success and Dana's 'existential crisis' As senior resident Dr. Heather Collins, Ifeachor exudes confidence, intelligence, and warmth. When Wells, Wyle, and creator R. Scott Gemmill gave her the character breakdown, they discussed Collins' "pursuit of excellence." Though it wasn't revealed in the first season, Collins went into medicine after a career in finance. "Her mentor convinced her to come into medicine, and she just loved it," Ifeachor says. "So I knew that she was a driven person. She's about her business and she's really caring kind and has a sense of compassion. And her humanity is really key. It's always on display, even when she's busy doing lots of different things." Ifeachor was also informed that Collins and Dr. Robby (Wyle) were exes, a plot point that's not revealed until the fifth episode. "I think Dr. Collins never thought she would see him again. And then here she is matched with the Pittsburgh hospital," she says. "So she ends up working with him, and they kind of have a few awkward moments, but they're full of joy because when someone really knows you, they know how to push your buttons, and you know how to push their buttons." Collins is indeed one of the few people who can call out Robby in the way only someone you're really intimate with can. She's the one who tells Robby, who's working on the anniversary of his mentor's death, to check his baggage at the door like they all do. The 15-hour shift is the worst day of Robby's life, culminating in his breakdown in the 13th episode, but as Ifeachor notes, it's also the worst day of Collins' life. She suffers a miscarriage at the end of the seventh episode — her second attempt with IVF — and has several cases during the day that involves pregnancy, babies, and children. For each and every one, she steadies herself and does her job. In the 11th episode, Collins takes charge of a complicated childbirth, one of the most graphically realistic births portrayed onscreen. Ifeachor pulled from her own experience with compartmentalization. She was diagnosed with dyslexia at 21 and struggled with learning lines, sometimes in a different dialect. They were "all these wonderful challenges that I love, but at the same time having to be on and being your own dialect coach and not having a coach on set... but having to still deliver no matter what, I kind of drew from that because it was a high-pressure situation," she says. "Collins is having a lot of pressure placed on her as well. So I feel like I felt like I kind of lived it." John Johnson/HBO The storylines involving children were all difficult because "every woman knows a woman who has had a miscarriage." Someone in Ifeachor's family lost a baby at seven months. "I still remember that child every now and then. I still think about that child," she shares. "And so coming to this with that kind of history — the whole thing is on [one] day — so you're always thinking about it. It's always on your mind. It was really challenging. It was really challenging. So I had no idea what it would end up looking like, whether it would be something that was really good or something that was there's just no way to know. Sometimes when you're actually making something — I knew the overall piece was good — but I really want to make sure that my part in it, [that] I'm not going to drop the ball for anybody, because this is a really important project, and it means a lot to all of us. And I'm really glad that it translated." Towards the end of the 11th episode, Collins and Robby have an emotional exchange in the back of an ambulance. She opens up about her fertility struggles before revealing she had an abortion a few years ago because she wasn't sure about the relationship. "I never told him," she says. "I was afraid. I was afraid of all of it. But mostly, I was afraid he'd hate me for being selfish." It dawns on Robby that she's talking about him. Robby tells her she was not selfish, and that "he" would forgive her and "he would want you to forgive yourself." "We all need a little bit more grace for ourselves, and then if we have that, we have it for each other," Ifeachor says. She and Wyle never spoke about the scene before filming it. "I think the key is just in those moments to just be really available to each other and just to embrace whatever the other person is giving you. And I feel like certainly I did that, and I feel like certainly he did that as well in that scene. And then just allow yourself to be surprised," she says. "You enjoy just being present with another person and creating something that wasn't there before. And obviously the writing really helped and did so much work for us as well." SEE The Pitt star Isa Briones loves the discourse around Dr. Santos: 'I just want people to feel something viscerally' It's unclear exactly why Collins and Robby broke up, but it doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out it has to do with the latter not being fully emotionally available. Ifeachor thought about their backstory "all the time." "I was like, 'So what do you think of this?' They're like, 'Nope, nope,'" she says. Robby is "somebody that is not fully in touch with themselves because of trauma, because of just trying to keep going," she continues. "They're always going to feel like they're hiding a little bit of themselves, and that's kind of a lonely place to be in a relationship. And so, after however long of trying to get that part of him, I think you just have to accept the person is not able to give you what you might need in that relationship. And they're a good person. You're a good person. It just didn't work out because it's not the right time." The 11th episode is the last time fans see Collins in Season 1. Robby lets her clock out early and she misses the mass casualty incident that begins at the end of the episode. The team calls her, but she never returns, seemingly passed out and somehow completely disconnected from the world. "That was my question!" Ifeachor exclaims. "I was like, 'But uh...' I have, like, five devices. And I don't look at my phone anyway, and I remember trying to turn off my phone once for like an hour. I was like, 'OK, I'll just get an Uber Eats. Oh, wait, I need my phone for that.' I was like, 'Oh, I'll just get a ...' 'No.' 'What time is it?' My watch is off. It's like, 'This isn't working.' She was, like, curtains out. It had been a long 11 hours, let's just say, for her." But fear not: Collins will be awake and back in Season 2, which takes place 10 months later on the Fourth of July. "I know that there will be a lot of surprises. That is all I could tell you." Season 1 of The Pitt is streaming on Max. Best of GoldDerby How Eddie Redmayne crafted his 'deeply unflappable' assassin on 'The Day of the Jackal' TV composers roundtable: 'Adolescence,' 'Day of the Jackal,' 'Interview With the Vampire,' 'Your Friends and Neighbors' 'Your Friends and Neighbors' composer Dominic Lewis on matching the show's tonal shifts and writing the catchy theme song 'The Joneses' Click here to read the full article.
