Nashville
Will Chase & Aubrey Peeples Won't Be Part Of CMT's Nashville Season 5 Cast!

Photo: ABC/Getty
Two series regulars from Nashville will no longer be part of the cast now that the music city soap opera has moved to its new home CMT.
According to TV Line, Will Chase (Luke) and Aubrey Peeples (Layla) are out. But much about their exits makes complete story sense.
Chase’s Luke has not been driving story since he was the man that Rayna (Connie Britton) was going to tie-the-knot with. And as for Peeples, in the final moments of the ABC cliffhanger for Nashville season 4, Layla’s duplicitious plans game to light to avenge the death of Jeff Fordham (Oliver Hudson) and destroy Juliette’s (Hayden Panettiere) relationship with Avery (Jonathan Jackson). Only, it backfired on her!

Photo: ABC/Getty
Since Nashville has new showrunners, Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz, other changes could be made. No word yet on if CMT has signed on the entire main cast to deals for season five, but talks are on-going.
As for Chase and Aubrey Peeples, word is they could return to the series on a guest star basis, pending availability.
Share your thoughts on a Nashville-less Chase and Peeples in the comment section below!
Disappointed. Loved both those characters and I think they each have interesting stories to expand, continue… Not happy and dreading who else they’ll cut.
Whatever they need to do to survive is welcome with me.
I agree – and their storylines did wrap up…
Sorry to see Will go. I think that’s a mistake because they can always reunite Luke and Rayna. Especially since Deacon is so violent. I don’t think he and Rayna are going to last long anyway.
Very disappointed. about Chase he was one of the most talented members of the cast. Won’t miss Peeples at all.
DON’T THINK THE SHOW WILL HAVE THE AUDIENCE IT HAD ON ABC!!!!
Must not have had that much of an audience if the show was canceled!
It has a better chance of surviving on CMT because the “numbers game” isn’t as cutthroat.
It actually had over six million viewers
I loved the character of Luke and thought more should have been made of him. Layla was too wimpy and weak.
I agree with you, Karen. I came to like the post-Rayna Will but I am not sure in the crowded cast there was a place for him. I liked Will though. Had hoped Layla would have come into her own after Jeff’s death. Without Juliette front and center in season 4, I thought Layla would step up as a larger-than-life bad girl. They kept her in the shadows. Mr. Chase and Ms. Peeples are great talents and I will miss their music.
Am hoping we will have a frenemy relationship and more scenes with Rayna and Juliette together. They may not like each other but they have to co-exist, much like Viki and Dorian on OLTL! I think the new showrunners will focus on the core family so Rayna and Deacon should be solid. I want to see more businesswoman Rayna. She seemed too sad all last season.
i am thrilled cmt picked up Nashville it is a GREAT series however the last few episodes have been so depressing i am hoping the new writers will find a different direction…some drama is expected and good but lets not depress us totally.
and i forgot to say that luke should stay but layla is a hot mess
Love these two characters. Hate to see them go. Maybe they should create a spin-off series with these two as the main stars. Nashville has and will continue to be great!
Nooooo! Luke is one of my favorite characters.
I did like Luke. As a conflict character Layla worked for me. However, the finale kind of indicated their exits. Luke was thinking of reconciling with his ex wife and Layla was left in the dust after trying and failed to destroy Juliette in Avery’s eyes. It was a dwindling audience why ABC canceled the show. I think with the right advertising for CMT and Hulu viewers will find season 5 to watch. I know I will be watching on Hulu.
Not surprising at all. And of all the characters, these 2 have the least impact. Very large cast, so cuts had to be made especially moving to cable where budget is likely tighter. As for Dianne’s comment – of course it won’t have the audience it had on ABC. It’s moving to cable! That’s a silly comment.
hmmm well these two can sing!! Not a fan of the two lead actresses on the show.. They are good actresses but I fast forward through all of their songs.. Lets limit their singing on the show and keep them in the drama….
The LGBTQ executive producer goes and so does the LGBTQ character and storyline….
Brain fart.. Confused the two characters.
Aubrey Peeples has a great voice! Saw her in concert with Chip Esten last summer. Too bad Jeff Fordham (Oliver Hudson) was killed off as I loved him and Layla together. Didn’t like his character at first, but when they paired the two of them up, it worked. I hope Aubrey Peeples goes on in the entertainment industry as she is a great singer and great actress. Obviously she played her part well if people don’t like her….she was to be the “bad guy.”
It had a huge audience on ABC and it will be less cost to produce on CMT and since they don’t rely on advertisers they don’t concern themselves with age demographics They’re still getting large contributions from the city Nashville and they’re hoping to add to the audience with their built in country viewers…
Will Chase will be sadly missed. His singing and character
Nashville
AXS TV to Air All Six Seasons of ‘Nashville’
The Music City soap opera is back featuring notables, Jonathan Jackson (Lucky Spencer, General Hospital) and Hayden Panettiere (ex-Lizzie, Guiding Light), when its returns now to its new home AXS TV. The cable network is now set to rebroadcast all six seasons of the country music drama originally on ABC.
Nashville kicks-off on AXS TV on Monday, September 30th and airs weekdays and weeknights at 2pm ET and 11pm ET. The show, which debuted back in 2012, a brings to life the tremendous highs and devastating lows of the cutthroat Country scene, as a group of artists struggle and strive to make their way in the town known as Music City. The series stars Connie Britton as Country Queen Rayna Jaymes, an industry icon fighting to stay on top as a new generation of up-and-coming musicians – led by talented but troubled songstress Juliette Barnes (Panettiere) – light up the charts.
GH’s Jonathan Jackson played by Avery Barclay, Charles Esten played Deacon, Claire Bowen played Scarlett and Eric Close played Teddy Conrad, plus more were in the standout cast. Nashville aired on ABC from 2012-2016, and then was picked up by CMT for its final two season through 2018.

Photo: ABC
In addition to its captivating plots and unforgettable performances, Nashville brings the realism to life with special guest appearances by an impressive roster of Country music megastars including Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood, Zac Brown Band, Luke Bryan, Kacey Musgraves, Thomas Rhett, and Trisha Yearwood, among others; as well as rock trailblazers Steven Tyler and Elton John; pop standouts Christina Aguilera and Kelly Clarkson; and many more.
Greg Drebin, AXS TV’s Head of Content and Marketing said in a statement, “As the premier destination for music-themed content, Nashville is a perfect addition to our network. With its unique blend of world-class storytelling and talent, with real life music legends and musical performances, we are confident that Nashville will be a huge hit with our audience. The addition of Nashville is another significant step in our strategy to enhance AXS TV for both viewers and advertisers.”
AXS TV is a leading television, streaming, digital, and social music and entertainment brand owned and operated by Anthem Sports & Entertainment, Inc. AXS TV’s programming celebrates music’s rich history and keeps its audience current on what’s happening in music today with non-fiction docs, live concerts, music news and information, reality shows, and well known programs including The Big Interview with Dan Rather and The Top Ten Revealed. AXS TV is also home to TNA Wrestling, one of the world’s top wrestling brands. Multi-platform AXS TV is available on television in all 50 states and across Canada, parts of the Caribbean, and streaming through its FAST (free-ad-supported-streaming television) channel. AXS TV has a vast reach on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, X and TikTok. For a full list of providers and territories, please visit axs.tv/subscribe.
Are you looking forward to seeing Jonathan Jackson, Hayden Panettiere, Connie Britton and more in this encore of Nashville? Comment below.
Nashville
Hayden Panettiere Reveals Filming ‘Nashville’ was ‘Traumatizing’; Writers Used Her Personal Struggles with Addiction, Postpartum as Storylines
Nashville and former Guiding Light star, Hayden Panettiere (ex-Lizzie, GL) opened up about her final seasons on the ABC country music primetime drama, where the show touched too close to home for the actress who played lead character, Juliette Barnes.
In an interview with The Messenger, Hayden shared that during the run of the show from 2012-2018, she feels that the writers, more often that not, pulled from her real life while crafting Juliette’s storylines.
Hayden said on the years she spent filming the series that it was “also very traumatizing because I felt like I was acting out my own life.”

Photo: JPI
Previously, the actress had shared that her dependency on alcohol and opioids as a teenager led to her dependency in her adult life. In addition, Nashville told the story of Juliette’s postpartum depression, which also mirrored Panettiere’s experience who went through the same thing when her own daughter was born.
Explaining what went down behind the scenes, Hayden recalled: “Straight from the beginning, it was like, I’m dating a football player, (and then) Juliette dates a football player. And then they turned her into an alcoholic. Then they turned to her leaving her daughter and going to this crazy (place) in Europe, and it was very obvious.”

Photo: ABC
The actress added, ‘They weren’t doing their homework. They weren’t creating new storylines. They were just looking at my life and going, ‘Oh, let’s just take what she’s going through and put our little spin on it.’ And then, ta-da! It’s done and done.”

Photo: JPI
Hayden added that she didn’t have time to care of herself and the pain she was going through physically and emotionally, so she tried to watch mindless TV and shows to help her calm down. Panettiere also felt that when she knew she had to go back to the set of Nashville, she did, “anything to keep my mind off of that because I knew that next day I was going to be back at it again. I was like, tear central. I don’t even think on a soap opera that I cried as much (as I did) on Nashville.”
Hayden is set to make three upcoming appearances of her A Conversation With Hayden Panettiere live series in New York on February 23 and Washington D.C. on February 24.
So, do you think the Nashville writers literally stole creative ideas for the character of Juliette Barnes based on Hayden’s personal struggles? It certainly on paper seems so. Share your thoughts via the comment section below.
General Hospital
Jonathan Jackson Reunites with Stars from ‘Nashville’ for New Tour Across the UK
He won five Daytime Emmys as General Hospital’s Lucky Spencer and now actor and musician, Jonathan Jackson is scheduled to head to the United Kingdom this fall, when he reunites with some of the cast of the former ABC primetime music city drama, Nashville.
Jackson shared on his Instagram, “This has been in the works for a while, and I’m thrilled to announce that the NASHVILLE cast and I are reuniting for a special UK tour this October. I’m excited about this!”

Courtesy/ABC
On Nashville, Jonathan Jackson starred for six season as Avery Barkley before the series concluded in the summer of 2018, after it moved from ABC to CMT for its final two seasons.
Joining Jonathan on the Nashville reunion tour are his former co-stars Clare Bowen, Charles Esten, and Sam Palladio. The fab four will play shows in Glasgow, Birmingham, London, and Cardiff, as they tour the UK.

Photo: GigsandTours
If you are in the UK and wanted to get your tickets early, the presale is already underway. The general sale tickets will become available tomorrow on Thursday, March 9, beginning at 9:30 a.m. Go to Gigs and Tours.com to purchase.
With GH’s 60th anniversary just a few weeks away, do you wish somehow Jonathan Jackson was brought back just for even a little while to reprise his role as Lucky? Would you like to see the ‘Nashville’ tour here in the states? Comment below.
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