Emily Wickersham is giving fans a glimpse of her life away from NCIS, sharing a series of sun-soaked poolside photographs that highlight just how much her life has changed since she left the long-running CBS drama.
The 42-year-old actress appeared in the new Instagram images wearing a brown bikini as she relaxed at a Hollywood hotel. In one photograph, Wickersham reclined on a partially shaded sunbed, while another showed her standing beside the pool in a bikini top, loose patterned trousers and a white towel draped around her shoulders.
The photographs quickly drew compliments from followers, many of whom praised the actress and her appearance.
Wickersham accompanied the images with the caption, “Cause we never do anything real, we just talk about it,” adding an intriguing note to an otherwise relaxed series of vacation-style photographs.
The images, reported by HELLO! Magazine and writer Jenni McKnight, offer a striking snapshot of the former NCIS star’s life several years after she made the decision to step away from one of television’s most established crime dramas.
A very different chapter after NCIS
For viewers who knew Wickersham primarily as Special Agent Eleanor “Ellie” Bishop, her life since leaving NCIS has unfolded largely away from the weekly television spotlight.
Wickersham joined the series as Bishop and ultimately spent close to eight years with the cast and crew, appearing in 172 episodes before her departure in 2021. Her exit came as part of a storyline that saw Bishop fired from NCIS so she could work undercover for CIA agent Odette Malone.
The actress announced her departure in May 2021, reflecting on the experience in an Instagram post in which she said she was “hangin’ [her] hat and jacket up.”
Her farewell was notably appreciative rather than bitter. Wickersham described her time on the series as “a great ride” and praised the cast and crew, saying she had been fortunate to work with the group for close to eight years.
She also acknowledged the importance of being part of such a significant television production, thanking CBS and NCIS for allowing her to contribute to what she described as “a part of television history.”
At the time, the departure represented the end of a substantial chapter in her professional life. But Wickersham would later explain that leaving was ultimately something she had wanted.
Why Emily Wickersham chose to leave the show
The actress subsequently discussed her decision on the podcast Off-Duty: An NCIS Rewatch, providing a more direct explanation for why she felt the time had come to move on.
“I was ready to leave the show. It was time, and I was ready to move on to something else,” she said, according to the account provided by HELLO! Magazine.
That explanation is significant because it frames her departure as a personal and professional decision rather than simply the result of a storyline written for her character.
After years of portraying Bishop, Wickersham had reached a point where she wanted to explore whatever came next. Her comments also reflected the reality of spending much of a career on a long-running television series: leaving a familiar role can mean stepping away from a character and an established working environment that have occupied a major portion of an actor’s life.
Yet the door to Bishop was never completely closed.
From series regular to mother of two
Wickersham’s life outside NCIS has also included a major personal transition.
She and actor James Badge Dale became parents when their first son, Cassius, was born on December 30, 2021, just months after Wickersham’s departure from the series. The couple later welcomed their second son, Zephyr, in October 2024.
That shift in priorities helps provide context for the relatively low-key period that followed her NCIS exit.
When Wickersham eventually returned to the franchise, she acknowledged that her children had been occupying much of her attention. Speaking to TV Insider about Bishop’s return, she explained that she had been “busy with kids” and had not really been watching the show recently.
The comment also illustrated how different her day-to-day life had become from the years when she was a central member of the NCIS cast.
Rather than returning immediately to another long-running television role, Wickersham had spent these years building a family life with Dale. Her recent photographs, therefore, show a side of the actress that viewers do not often see on television: a relaxed moment away from the demands of a network drama.
Eleanor Bishop’s unexpected return
Although Wickersham had moved on from NCIS, her character remained important to the show’s history, and the actress eventually returned to the role.
After a four-year hiatus, Wickersham reprised Eleanor Bishop during the show’s 23rd season. Her return began with a cameo in the fall finale in December 2025, followed by a guest appearance in the March 3, 2026 midseason premiere.
For longtime viewers, the comeback offered an opportunity to revisit a character whose departure had deliberately left questions unresolved.
Wickersham told TV Insider that the NCIS team had approached her about returning. Because the series remained such a familiar environment, she said she was excited by the opportunity.
She also recognized the appeal of revisiting Bishop after her original departure.
When Bishop left NCIS, Wickersham noted, there were “so many unanswered questions.” She stopped short of promising that the comeback would resolve everything for viewers, instead describing it as potentially “a nice little reunion.”
That distinction matters. Her return did not necessarily represent a permanent reversal of her decision to leave the show. Instead, it allowed Wickersham to revisit a character who had played such an important role in her career without necessarily returning to the same full-time commitment.
The return had been discussed long before it happened
According to TVLine, NCIS showrunner Steven D. Binder revealed that bringing Bishop back had been considered from the beginning of the show’s 23rd season.
Binder explained that Wickersham’s return had initially been more of an ambitious possibility than a certainty. Timing, he said, was an important factor, particularly because Wickersham no longer lived locally.
That logistical hurdle could have prevented the reunion from happening.
Instead, Wickersham was willing to return, and discussions eventually moved forward. Binder said he spoke with the actress and found that she was enthusiastic about the idea.
The fact that the comeback took time to materialize also underscores how complicated returning to a television franchise can be after an actor has moved on. A former cast member may have different personal commitments, live elsewhere and have an entirely different schedule from the one they maintained while working on the series full time.
In Wickersham’s case, those circumstances included raising two young children.
Still, according to Binder’s account to TVLine, her enthusiasm for coming back did not fade during the process.
A familiar face in a new phase of life
Wickersham’s recent poolside photographs arrive against that broader backdrop.
On the surface, the images are simply a celebrity sharing a sunny moment with her Instagram followers. But they also provide a glimpse into the chapter that followed one of the most defining professional periods of her life.
For nearly a decade, audiences associated Wickersham closely with NCIS and with Bishop’s evolution within the show’s ensemble. Since leaving, however, she has experienced a very different rhythm, including becoming a mother of two and eventually making a selective return to the character that made her widely recognizable.
Her recent appearance also demonstrates that leaving a hit series does not necessarily mean severing ties with the character or the people who helped shape an actor’s career.
Wickersham was able to step away when she felt ready, build a life beyond the show and later accept an invitation to return on her own terms.
That makes the photographs particularly reflective of where she is now. The actress is no longer appearing every week as Bishop, but she remains connected to the NCIS world and has shown that the relationship can be revisited when the circumstances are right.
For fans, the combination of her relaxed Instagram update and her recent return to NCIS offers two complementary views of the actress: one rooted in the role that made her a familiar television presence, and another focused on the personal life she has built since leaving it.
And while there has been no indication in the material reported by HELLO! Magazine, TV Insider or TVLine that Wickersham is planning a permanent return to NCIS, her recent appearances have demonstrated that Bishop’s story is not necessarily finished.
For now, however, Wickersham appears comfortable enjoying life beyond the show’s demanding production schedule — and occasionally inviting fans along for a glimpse.
The post Emily Wickersham Stuns in Bikini as Former NCIS Star Embraces Life Away From the Spotlight appeared first on Owink.
Source: Owink
