SWAT season 8 taps Chicago Fire alum to join 20 Squad

SWAT season 8 has some casting news and Chicago Fire fans may recognize the name! Not only will we see a new face on the team, but a recurring character has been upped to a series regular. This comes after we learned that actress Rochelle Aytes would be exiting in her role as Nichelle, Hondo’s wife. So what do we know about the casting for season 8?

Deadline reports Annie Ilonzeh will join Squad 20 in a recurring role. The actress was last seen on Chicago Fire at the end of season 8. Now she will go from playing a paramedic to a SWAT officer. 

Her character Devin Gamble had grown up around crime and she became an officer in order to make a name for herself. However, she eventually left Los Angeles after her father’s arrest. Hondo brings her onto the team because of the attributes he knows she has. He knows she has plenty of street smarts and has an intuitive nature that will help the team as they become a unit once more.

The addition to Squad 20 comes after we said goodbye to Jim Street and Dominique Deluca, who both left SWAT during what they believed, at the time, to be the final season. However, CBS reversed that decision and has brought show back for season 8. 

In that time, we have seen a lot of changes on the show, and there is at least one more for a character that hasn't left. Actor Niko Pepaj, who has played Officer Miguel Alfaro since season 6, will be coming back to the squad as a series regular. This will cement his place in Squad 20, especially after season 7 saw the rest of the team struggling to come together and accept him into the fold.

We can also expect to see the return of actors Shemar Moore, Patrick St. Esprit, Jay Harrington, David Lim, and Anna Enger Ritch also returning to round out the team at SWAT.

Season 7 ended with the team fractured due to losing two team members, so we will likely see 20 squad learning how to regroup and work together with new people involved. This will make for an exciting season and we’re looking forward to seeing how season 8 will further the arcs for the characters involved.

In addition, we’re also waiting to see how the writers will explain Nichelle’s absence in the show. Luckily, there were no plans to kill her off so there could be other explanations for us not seeing her. At any rate, it looks like things are moving along for the cast and crew as they prepare for the next chapter on SWAT.

The new season will get a late start, premiering on Friday, October 18 in its regular 8 p.m. ET slot. Make sure to stay tuned to Hidden Remote for more updates on SWAT and follow us on X to become a part of the conversation, we'd love to hear what you're hoping to see in season 8!