Where Is Lori Loughlin Now? Here's Everything We Know About Her Post-Prison Plans
From Fuller House to the big house! Last year, LoriLoughlin spent two months behind bars for her role in the infamous college scam masterminded by William “Rick” Singer. And with that massive fraud now receiving renewed focus thanks to Netflix’s feature-length docudrama, Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal—and Loughlin’s prison sentence officially served and done—you may be wondering whether she’ll be attempting a showbiz rebound.
After initially pleading not guilty to the charges against her, in May 2020, Loughlin ultimately did agree to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud. (Her husband, MossimoGiannulli, likewise pled guilty and is currently serving five months in federal lockup.) Since then, Loughlin's yet to speak publicly about her involvement in the scam or her time in the slammer—but here’s what we know so far about the likelihood of a Loughlin comeback.
Where is Lori Loughlin now?
After her release December 28, 2020, from a low-security federal correctional facility in Dublin, California, Loughlin kept an extremely low profile. In fact, the only member of the Loughlin-Giannulli family to address their scandal so far is daughter Olivia Jade Giannulli, whose admission to USC was orchestrated under false pretenses by Singer and her parents. The 21-year-old told JadaPinkettSmith on Red Table Talkback in December, "It's been hard...No matter what the situation is, you don't want to see your parents go to prison. But I think it's necessary for us to move on and move forward."
A source told ET, "Lori's been offered many opportunities to open up about what she has been through, but she can't seem to find the right words. She fears no matter what she says, people can't get past this...At this point, she just wants to move forward and focus on the positive."
Meanwhile, after getting out of prison in late December, Loughlin wasn’t seen in public until March 3, when PEOPLE published pics of the 56-year-old performing her court-mandated community service. She was photographed in jeans, a sweater, baseball cap, pearl necklace and mask transporting bagged meals for Project Angel Food, an organization that home-delivers prepared meals to people in L.A. impacted by serious illness. (Fun fact: The nonprofit was founded by former presidential candidate MarianneWilliamson!)
EntertainmentTonightreported in February that Loughlin had 100 hours of community service to complete and that she was expected to fulfill that obligation soon. TODAY also reported that Loughlin will still be “under supervised release” for the next two or so years.
Related: Lori Loughlin's Daughters
Will Lori Loughlin go back to acting?
She hasn't made any public statements about her future plans, but a few months ago, a source toldPEOPLE that Loughlin sure would like to act again. "She previously expressed that she would love to act again at some point," the insider revealed "She always loved her career. She loves filming and creating movies.” So far, though, there’s no official word on any new projects she’s lined up. Loughlin’s IMDb page has nothing listed since her 2019 appearances in two Hallmark franchises, Garage Sale Mysteries and When Calls the Heart.
Will Lori Loughlin return to When Calls the Heart?
Take heart, Hearties! If Loughlin is able to revive her acting career, it seems that the most likely place she’ll be able to do so is on her long-running Hallmark Channel drama, When Calls the Heart.
While the Hallmark Channel cut ties with Loughlin in 2019 after the FBI dropped its Operation Varsity Blues bombshell, there have recently been signs that Loughlin’s Heart character, Abigail Stanton, might just find her way back to Hope Valley. After the show went on hiatus to figure out what to do about Loughlin, they eventually revealed that Abigail left because her mother had “taken ill back east”—leaving the door open for her possible return.
Meanwhile, When Calls the Heart star Erin Krakow told ET Canada last month that she would welcome Loughlin back to the series “with open arms,” adding, “It would make me so happy.”
And way back in April 2019, soon after Loughlin’s scandal broke, When Calls the Heart executive producer Brian Bird told fans in a YouTube video, “Hope Valley will always be a place of second chances, but in the real world, that doesn’t mean that justice can be ignored…Both justice and mercy are values we care about in Hope Valley.” He added, “Sometimes the laws of man and the laws in our hearts have to coexist in a state of conflict until justice and redemption can be resolved and life can be restored.”
What does Lori Loughlin think of Netflix's college admissions scandal documentary?
She's nervous about it, apparently. A source told ET that the 56-year-old actress is trying to "focus on the positive" ahead of Netflix releasing the new documentary. The source shared that Loughlin is "concerned" about the documentary. "She wants nothing more than for time to pass so people won't be talking about the college scandal anymore," the source said.
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