"Nashville" season 5 promo confirms Connie Britton and Hayden Panettiere are back
Fans worried that Hayden Panettiere’s character wouldn’t make it to the new season of “Nashville” can rest easy.
The first promo for the fifth season -- the series’ first on its new home, CMT -- aired Thursday during the CMT Artists of the Year special, featuring Panettiere and slew of other familiar faces, including Connie Britton, Charles Esten and Will Lexington.
Panettiere briefly left the show last year to seek treatment for postpartum depression, and the fourth season finale saw her character’s plane losing radio contact and left in limbo. But if the promo is any indication, she managed to make a safe landing, despite the fact that Panettiere’s participation in the series going forward was never officially confirmed.
“We tape ourselves together so that no one can see our flawed hearts,” Panettiere says in the promo.
ABC canceled “Nashville” at the end of the fourth season, but CMT swooped in and picked up the series for a new season, which will premiere on January 5, 2017. Episodes will also be available to stream on Hulu after they air on CMT.