Lori Loughlin is returning to acting, reprising her When Calls the Heart role in spinoff series

Deadline

Loughlin is set to reprise her popular character, Abigail Stanton, in the spinoff of the Hallmark series, When Hope Calls, which is moving to the new cable network GAC Family. The role marks Loughlin's return to acting 2-1/2 years after her arrest in the college cheating scandal that led to her losing all her acting gigs. Loughlin will appear in the two-part Season 2 premiere titled When Hope Calls: A Country Christmas, slated to air on Dec. 18. Loughlin's last role was as Abigail in Season 6 of When Calls the Heart. Loughlin is currently on probation after serving a two-month sentence. A federal judge recently gave Loughlin permission to travel to Canada for a week for “a filming production project.” GAC Family launched on Monday with the tagline “Stories Well Told," taking over the Great American Country cable channel. Bill Abbott, former CEO of Hallmark Channel parent Crown Media Family Networks, launched GAC Family to emulate his old network's playbook for family-friendly programming.