Why did Jessica Amlee (Mallory) leave Heartland? (When did she come back?)

Do you know what we hate just as much as show cancellations? Actor departures. When shows continue on for so long, it’s common to see cast members eventually depart the series. We saw this with Jessica Amlee in Canada’s longest-running scripted drama, Heartland. But the good news is that she does eventually return.

Jessica Amlee had been a cast member of the popular family drama for the first seven seasons before leaving. But while she appeared in many episodes in seasons 1 through 6, she had a reduced role in Heartland season 7, only appearing in two episodes.

Her character, Mallory Wells, is a fan-favorite character. When the show starts, Mallory is the Bartlett-Fleming family’s gossipy 12-year-old neighbor. She would constantly spend her time at the Heartland Ranch, helping Amy and Jack with the horses. As the show goes on, so much happens to Mallory, like her having crushes on boys and relocating to Nashville only to return to Hudson later on.

We loved seeing Jessica’s portrayal of the Mallory character, so that’s why it was so hard to see her leave. Luckily, she didn’t stay away for long and came back a couple of seasons later.

When does Jessica Amlee leave Heartland?

So, Jessica actually leaves Heartland several times. In Heartland season 7 episode 4, Mallory decides to leave Hudson to move to Paris with Jake. This is the first time she leaves the series. She then comes back in season 10 for two episodes, where her character ends up marrying Jake.

She doesn’t return to the series until season 16 episode 7, when her character comes back to Hudson after the death of her horse, Copper. Now in the ongoing Heartland season 17, she has appeared in one episode, which was the season premiere. Mallory and Jake return to Hudson, where Mallory ends up having their baby. Mallory initially thought about staying in Hudson with Jake and the new baby but ultimately decided to go back to Colorado.

Jessica Amlee left Heartland because she wanted to pursue new things

As mentioned above, the first time Jessica leaves is after the seventh season. She had played Mallory from 12 to 18 years old. When asked why she decided to exit the family drama series after seven seasons, she told the Calgary Herald that she wanted to explore other things in her career and challenge herself.

"“Heartland was very stable, which was great, and it was a great job for a young person but I needed to expand myself and see what I’m made of. I felt like I got the hang of Mallory. I needed to challenge myself in other ways.”"

In fact, she went on to take on new roles after her departure. She starred in the leading role of Hannah Anderson in the 2015 TV movie Kidnapped: The Hannah Anderson Story, Issie in the 2016 TV movie Connexion Mortelle and Jackie Sanders in the Netflix tween drama series Greenhouse Academy.

Hopefully, we haven’t seen the last of Jessica Amlee as Mallory in Heartland. We’ll let you know if she ever returns to the series again.