Chicago Fire star Miranda Rae Mayo teases possible exit: 'You always gotta be ready for what might happen'

Wednesday night's episode of NBC's Chicago Fire planted a seed that Miranda Rae Mayo could be departing the series. Mayo spoke to EW during an IG Live chat about whether her character Stella Kidd will be moving on to a new firehouse as a lieutenant.

"Fingers crossed. I'm not ready [to say goodbye to Stella]," Mayo says in the video above. "There's just a part of this industry though that I think it's healthy and good to practice detachment by really embracing the impermanent nature of life. And how everything changes and everything grows. So, no matter what happens, this has been one of the most transformational experiences of my life. But, you know, you always gotta be ready for what might happen."

Season 9 has been leaning into the idea that an engagement between Stella and her longtime beau Severide (Taylor Kinney) is on the horizon. But as Boden (Eamonn Walker) shared the news that there are no lieutenant spots at 51, could the finale be a wedding AND a possible double departure for the couple known as Stellaride?

"We'll see what happens but I think that will be some delicious content to jump into," she shares. "What does that look like? What does a relationship look like where you have two officers in a modernized world filled with our own sexist ideas. How does that translate? How do they deal with that? At the end of the day, I think those two characters have a perspective unlike most people because they deal with death so often. I think that's a very strong foundation. I think they can work through almost anything."

Mayo gets giddy when discussing what a Stellaride wedding would look like, and she doesn't hold back on the imagined details.

"I don't see it being very big," the California native says. "I see it being on a boat or, I don't know, them being in the midst of planning it and then being like, 'Screw it!' and going to city hall. As fans, we've seen that was Casey [Jesse Spencer] and Dawson's [Monica Raymund] journey. I'm really looking forward to seeing what the writers do with our characters if an engagement happens and if a marriage happens. How they envision those two characters [taking those steps]."

Although the idea of departing the series she joined in 2015 would be heartbreaking, Mayo says she'd leave with a heart full of gratitude and loving words for her beloved character.

"Dear Stella, it has been magnificent watching you discover your power and the effect that you have on people," she would write in a hypothetical note. "The love that you are capable of and the magic that you are. You have forever changed me and my life will never be the same because of you and all that you've brought out in me. I love you and I'm going to carry you with me wherever I go."

Chicago Fire airs Wednesday nights at 9 p.m. on NBC.

Related content:

• Chicago Fire boss on what's next for Gallo after Mackey's departure and that Violet return

• Chicago Fire boss weighs in on Adriyan Rae's departure, possible return for Monica Raymund

• Chicago Fire's David Eigenberg breaks down the explosive events of Hermann's Lucky Day