What are Maria Bello's plans post-'NCIS'? Here's what to expect as her Jack Sloane character prepares to exit show
For Maria Bello's character, Jack Sloane, there are just two more episodes to go. One is the delayed Episode 7 of Season 18 titled 'The First Day' that will be airing on February 9. And Episode 8 will be Sloane's swan song, which was most probably shot back in December 2020. But we might have to wait till March to see it.
Meanwhile, there is a new guy in town. Specifically, a new agent in town. Wilmer Valderrama (who plays Torres on NCIS) posted on his Instagram page spoilers about a potential cast shakeup. He introduced Zane Holtz as "Federal Agent Sawyer" in the caption, writing: "Together again, ladies & gentlemen... meet Federal Agent Sawyer.. @zaneholtz, welcome to the #NCIS Team... long way from Dusk and Vampires.."
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For now, it is unclear if "Agent Sawyer" will be replacing Maria Bello's Jack Sloane or will just be a new face to keep engaged while Sloane's character exits the show. It is also not clear if this will be a one-off guest appearance by Zane Holtz as Agent Sawyer. The showrunners might test out the audience's reaction to him before hiring him as a regular.
Valderrama has been Holtz co-star before on From 'Dusk Till Dawn: The Series' and so the "together again" comment. Holtz has also appeared on NCIS in the past as a minor character Navy Petty Officer Third Class Kevin Wyeth.
Who is Zane Holtz?
Holtz is a Canadian actor and model who is best known for playing KO Kelly in 'Katy Keene', the 'Riverdale' spin-off and played the love-interest of Katy Keene herself. He then joined the cast of Riverdale. Holtz has spoken before about not being bothered about not being the lead of a series. Speaking about joining the 'Riverdale' cast, he had said: "I wanted to work with a good team, and so the ensemble nature of it didn’t really bother me…"
This is also not his first time on a crime procedural. He appeared in a 2001 episode of 'CSI: Crime Scene Investigation', besides being on NCIS of course. His movie debut was the film 'Holes' starring Shia LaBeouf. Holtz is married to Chelsea Thea Pagnini and they have four children.
Is Maria Bello getting married?
In early 2020, Maria Bello made a huge announcement. She was engaged to her 53-year-old French chef girlfriend, Dominique Crenn. The 'NCIS' actress announced the news when she attended Elton John's annual Oscar viewing party. The couple had got engaged in December 2019. The couple is now set to unite their families into one modern family — Bello with her son, Jackson, and Crenn with her own six-year-old twins with ex-partner Katherine Keon.
Crenn has spoken at length about how the couple had to quarantine over 2020, sometimes together, but also in separate cities at times, right after they got together. "[After getting engaged] we were like, ‘2020 is going to be amazing!’ We were so excited. We were going to be traveling, and we had a wedding planned for September 5, but then the pandemic happened.” The couple is now planning a French wedding in June 2021.
Crenn said in her interview, "we’re trying to buy a house in Aix-en-Provence, France, for our wedding, which will be June 12 — so that we can have a wedding in that house. Is that crazy?"