COTE DE PABLO played the iconic Ziva David in NCIS before leaving in season 10. But could there now be a chance she will be reappearing in season 19?
Cote de Pablo’s Ziva David was originally introduced in NCIS as a replacement for Agent Kate Todd (played by Sasha Alexander) back in season three. She remained a key member of the team in the CBS drama for eight years until it was time for her to say her goodbyes. Actress de Pablo had previously ruled out returning but changed her mind as she made a sh***ng return in the season 16 finale.
Ziva fans were left gutted when the character made the decision to leave her days at NCIS behind.
This was so she could return to Israel but unfortunately, it also meant saying goodbye to Agent Tony Dinozzo (Michael Weatherly) which broke fans’ hearts.
She said after leaving the drama, de Pablo “thought it was over and that was it”.
At a Q&A in 2016, the actress described how there was “no money” that would have convinced her to stay at the time.
“I worked eight years crafting this character and loving her. And so when I felt or I perceived that the character was not being treated with the respect that she deserved, no money in the world [would make her stay].”
In response, CBS Corp. president and CEO Les Moonves said: “I really want to clarify: We offered Cote de Pablo a lot of money — and then we offered her even more money.
“We really didn’t want to lose her, we love her. We think she’s te****c.
“We obviously were in discussions… and ultimately she decided she didn’t want to do the show. It was her decision.
“We don’t like losing anybody. We did everything humanly possible [and] exhausted every opportunity, and she just decided she didn’t want to do the show.”
However, as NCIS viewers now know, this wasn’t the end of Ziv a’s chapter.
In series 13, news had come that Ziva had been k***d in a mortar at***k and Tony, who didn’t know he had a daughter, had to look after their little girl Tali.
#ncis Camera is King pic.twitter.com/kvOyoWoDl1
— Michael Weatherly (@M_Weatherly) July 29, 2021
This spurred on Tony leaving the show in the season 13 finale but then at the end of series 16, Ziva made a comeback.
She was in fact pretending to be dead in order to protect her loved ones.
Ziva returned for the first few episodes of series 17, before making her way to Paris to be reunited with Tony and Tali.
They are now living happily in Paris, away from all of the drama of their previous lives with NCIS.
But actor Weatherly has teased his return as he posted a picture of himself in his NCIS uniform, posing in front of a television camera.
In the caption, he simply says: “#NCIS Camera is king”, which has left fans hoping for him to make a comeback.
But if Dinozzo is going to be appearing in season 19, does this mean Ziva will as well?
Unfortunately, there were various reasons why the couple didn’t show up in season 18.
Producer Steve Binder told CarterMatt they had “other fish to fry” during the latest series.
Fellow producer Frank Cardea then further explained how the coronavirus pandemic had limited the length of the series.
He said: “We also have a compressed season this year.
“CBS is cutting back on their episode orders because we got such a late start.
“We’re doing a third fewer episodes than we normally would in a non-COVID year.”
NCIS season 19 will be premiering next month on Monday, September 20, on CBS.
As of yet, there has been no confirmation of how long this next series will be.
But will the iconic duo be making an appearance when the drama does return?
NCIS is available to watch on CBS.