Lori Loughlin to act in first role since college admissions scandal
Lori Loughlin is set to return to acting this holiday season following a two-month prison sentence for her role in the college admissions cheating scandal. The actress, known for her role in sitcoms "Full House" and "Fuller House," will guest star on season two of "When Hope Calls," a spinoff of Hallmark's "When Calls the Heart," Great American Country Family television network announced Tuesday.
Loughlin will reprise her role in the 1900s-based drama as Abigail Stanton, who was the last character she played before being edited out of the show while facing federal charges in 2019.
The two-part season premiere will air exclusively on GAC Family on Saturday, December 18, the network said.
"Life throws all of us painful curveballs, and the only way to survive is to walk right through them with courage, grace, a forgiving spirit, and most of all, hope," the show's executive producer Brian Bird wrote in 2019, as season six continued without Loughlin.
Loughlin's reprisal as Stanton will be her first time acting onscreen in more than two years.
In 2019, the actress and her husband Mossimo Giannulli were accused of paying $500,000 to secure their two daughters spots at the University of Southern California by masquerading them as potential athletic recruits. The couple pleaded guilty, and Loughlin spent two months in California's Victorville Federal Correctional Institution for conspiracy charges. In her guilty plea, she agreed to pay a $150,000 fine, undergo two years of supervised release and serve 100 hours of community service.
"I made an awful decision. I went along with a plan to give my daughters an unfair advantage in the college admissions process. In doing so, I ignored my intuition and allowed myself to be swayed from my moral compass," Loughlin said during her sentencing.
More than 50 other parents and college officials were accused of participating in the scam.