Cameron Monaghan Revealed The Epic Reason He's Returning To 'Shameless'

For a bit, it looked like the Gallagher clan was falling apart, but although Cameron Monaghan said that his character of Ian would no longer appear on Shameless after a recent episode, when the Showtime series was picked up for Season 10, the network revealed that Monaghan actually would return as Ian. So what happened to bring Monaghan back to the show? Apparently, Ian's storyline in Shameless Season 10 is just so good that Monaghan felt compelled to come back for it.

Back in October, Cameron Monaghan shocked Shameless fans by revealing he was immediately leaving the show, with his final episode airing just days after posting his announcement. His character of Ian Gallagher was given a surprisingly happy ending after he was sentenced to prison to discover that his cellmate was none other than his on-again-off-again boyfriend Mickey Milkovich. That was supposedly a wrap on Ian, until last week when Showtime confirmed that Cameron Monaghan would return as Ian for Shameless' tenth season this fall.

Cameron Monaghan explained his decision to depart and then quickly return to Shameless at the Television Critics Association press tour this week. Per the Hollywood Reporter, Monaghan initially wanted to expand creatively after playing Ian Gallagher for nearly a decade, but after some conversations about where the character of Ian could possibly go in the future with showrunner John Wells, he felt excited to come back to the show and continue Ian's story:

I've renewed [my contract] a number of times and it got to a point where I wanted to step away for creative reasons as well as business, which many other actors had done on the show years earlier. I took some time away and talked to [showrunner] John Wells about possible things we could do with the character in the future and we go to a place both creatively and financially where I felt comfortable coming back. Much of that had to do with what we are going to do with the story. I'm excited to go back and do that.

That should certainly get Shameless fans pumped to see what is next for Ian. Where he left off, Ian was just beginning a two-year stint in prison, so unless there is a time jump or he finds some way out, it seems like Season 10 will focus on Ian's time behind bars.

But there is still a big question mark involved: what about Mickey Milkovich? Noel Fisher has not yet been announced to be part of the Season 10 cast, despite the fact that his character is now bunkmates with Ian. Cameron Monaghan could not clarify what whether we will see Mickey again or not, but he did say that he is more interested in seeing Ian working on bettering himself rather than focusing on a romantic relationship.

And although Ian will be back, the Gallagher family will still be down a member in Season 10. Emmy Rossum announced she will be leaving Shameless at the end of the currently airing ninth season, so that means no Fiona Gallagher in the upcoming season. The Shameless Season 9 finale will air on Sunday, March 10, and Season 10 will premiere this coming fall.