Michael Weatherly's NCIS Exit: Currently No Plans for Ziva to Return

It’s early goings yet, but there are “not currently” plans for Cote de Pablo to return to NCIS to help exit Michael Weatherly’s Tony DiNozzo off the canvas at season’s end, CBS entertainment president Glenn Geller said Tuesday at the Television Critics Association winter press tour in Pasadena.

RELATEDMichael Weatherly Leaving NCIS — Read His Statement

As first reported by TVLine, Weatherly will make his final appearance as Special Agent Tony DiNozzo in the Season 13 finale, one of four remaining original cast members. “DiNozzo is a wonderful, quixotic character and I couldn’t have had more fun playing him over the past 13 seasons,” the actor tweeted out to fans.

“They are working on how Michael’s character is going to be written out. [Showrunner] Gary [Glasberg] and the producers are working on that right now,” Geller told TVLine. “I will definitely miss — as I’m sure the fans will, as well as my mother — Special Agent Tony DiNozzo. [Weatherly’s] decision was his. It was a creative one. He had been in the role for 13 years, and I completely understand it, and I wish him well.”

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In a recent TVLine poll, 32 percent of respondents expressed their wish that Tony reunite with former agent Ziva David (played by Cote de Pablo) before riding off into the sunset, while 22 percent preferred to see him leave D.C. to head up his own NCIS team elsewhere.

Want more scoop on NCIS, or for any other show? Email insideline@tvline.com and your question may be answered via Matt’s Inside Line.

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