Milestones on and off camera. Shantel VanSanten’s pregnancy storyline as Nina on FBI comes a year after her engagement to a former co-star.
FBI is CBS’ crime drama series following the personal and professional lives of agents at the criminal division of the Federal Bureau of Investigations in New York City. The series, which premiered in 2018, has led to two spinoffs: FBI: Most Wanted in 2020 and FBI: International in 2021. VanSanten plays Nina Chase, an FBI Special Agent who filled in for Maggie Bell after she was exposed to sarin gas in the line of duty. Nina, who joined FBI in season 4, also works as an undercover agent and starts a relationship with her fellow FBI agent, Stuart Scola, in season 5.
Less than a year into their relationship, Nina revealed she was pregnant with Scola’s baby in season 5, episode 6. Read on for what we know about Nina’s pregnancy in FBI so far and how Shantel VanSanten’s pregnancy storyline mirrors her relationship milestones in real life.
Is Shantel VanSanten pregnant in real life like her FBI character?
Is Shantel VanSanten pregnant in real life like her FBI character, Nina Chase? The answer seems to be no. In season 5, episode 6, “Double Bind,” Nina reveals to Stuart Scola, her love interest and a fellow agent at the FBI, that she’s pregnant — with his baby. “I’m pregnant,” Nina says. “I found out last night.” Nina explains that her pregnancy is why she recently went to the doctor. “I thought I had the flu. I didn’t consider that I was [pregnant.]” Nina then confirms that Scola is the father of her baby. When Scola asks if Nina is going to keep the baby, Nina responds “I don’t know” before ending the conversation.
Later in the episode, Nina announces that she’s leaving the criminal division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to join the white-collar department. “This is going to be my last case with you guys for a while,” Nina says. “I need to take some time and clear my head. But I’m just going to go down to white collar. I’m going to take down all the dangerous dudes on Wall Street there who are doing insider trading.” She continues, “I’ll be two floors down. Don’t be emotional.”
After the meeting, Scola walks Nina to the elevator and asks her the real reason she’s leaving the criminal division. “Will you talk to me? What’s going on? Why are you really leaving?” Scola asks Nina, who responds, “I just need some time to figure things out. What to do with my life.” Scola then asks, “So…what about the baby?” Nina responds, “I don’t know. I just need some time.”
In an interview with TV Insider in November 2022, FBI executive producer Rick Eid explained that Nina’s pregnancy was a way for VanSanten to take a break on FBI while still continuing her relationship with Scola. “We didn’t want to kill Nina off. She’s been an incredible addition to the show, and intertwining her story with Scola’s allows us to keep her character alive,”Eid said. “It also gives Scola’s character another dimension; he’s now facing fatherhood on top of being an FBI Agent.” Eid continued, “Though Nina is leaving the team, she’s still an FBI agent, and her relationship with Scola will continue in some capacity. We’ll see her again soon.”
Nina returned to FBI in the FBI crossover event with FBI, FBI: Most Wanted, FBI: International in April 2023, in which Nina was shot while helping the Fly Team storm a house in Italy where terrorists were living. Nina survives the shooting and Scola visits Nina in the hospital to check on her and their baby. “How do you feel?” Scola asks Nina, who responds “I’ve been better.” Scola asks, “What about the baby? Is he OK?” Nina responds, “I think so,” placing Scola’s hand on her bump. “Felt him kicking.” Scola then tells Nina, “I love you,” towhich Nina responds through tears, “I love you. A lot.”
In an interview with TV Line at the time, John Boyd, who’s played Scola on FBI since season 1, explained that Nina’s shooting put her and Scola “in a situation that is catastrophic, and people grow closer from that.” He continued, “It deepens their relationship a great deal, and hopefully they make a decision to be together and to love one another.”
Is Shantel VanSanten pregnant in real life like her FBI character? There is no evidence that VanSanten is also pregnant like Nina. VanSanten doesn’t have a public Instagram account and her Facebook hasn’t been updated since 2011, long before she was cast in FBI. It also doesn’t seem like VanSanten was written out of FBI season 5 because of a real-life pregnancy. Along with FBI, VanSanten also stars as Karen Baldwin in Apple TV Plus’ For All Mankind, which filmed its third season around the time of FBI season 5. VanSanten also Jamie Brown in the movie American Murderer, which was released in October 2022 around the same time that Nina left FBI.
In an interview with TV Insider in April 2023, Boyd teased the future of Scola and Nina’s relationship. “The next step is just sort of the focus on processing what happened to them and her recovering. I think it’s really focusing on her recovery, and we don’t exactly know yet what their decision is,” he said. “I hope the audience wants them to be together, and I know that I think that Scola wants them to be together. But I think there’s always a part of Nina — what’s interesting about these characters is just, do we get to have that life? Is it something that would work? Is it really possible to do this right?” He continued, “That’s really the story that we’re telling is that it’s not just to get the girl in the end. There’s something deeper about what these people do and how they care about each other and that’s what’s important in their story after these three hours is that they know that they love each other in a way that they didn’t understand before.
Who is Shantel VanSanten dating?
Who is Shantel VanSanten dating? VanSanten is engaged to actor Victor Weber, whom she met on the set of the Hallmark movie, Love Blossoms, in 2017. The two got engaged on February 9, 2021, less than two years before Nina’s pregnancy on FBI. “It was the most perfect, wonderful day of my entire life,” VanSanten told People at the time of the proposal. “And I can’t wait to marry my best friend.” She continued, “Relationships aren’t easy — you have to fight for it, you have to work at it. We’ve done that and we’ve put in the work and now feel settled. I’m excited that we get to begin forever together.”
At the time, VanSanten also told People that she and Webster were figuring out how to have a wedding that includes both of their families in Texas and Minnesota, as well as friends in California. “We have lots of ideas we’re tossing about,” she said. “Who knows where we’ll land, but we’re such adventurers and just love traveling together. So I feel like that’ll have to be some sort of part of it.”
VanSanten also told People that she and Webster were considering a road trip across the United States to visit their family as a way to re-create their road trip along the same route in 2021.
“If you can go on a 42-day road trip with your partner and not kill one another, I think we’re good,” she said, adding that her relationship with Webster, who also starred as Nicholas Alamain on Days of Our Lives, is still a “total surprise” to her. “I would never have known it was going to be him,” she said. “That’s the biggest surprise to me — I never had a picture for what I wanted in my life, and my heart has always been very open. But I remember meeting him and now looking back on our journey to where we are now, and it’s a total surprise. I love him more and more with every breath.”
In the Season 5 finale, which airs on May 23, 2023, Scola and Chase will be at the forefront of the action-packed episode. According to the episode description reported by TV Line, “The team must race against the clock to hunt down a religiously motivated serial killer, after a prominent doctor is found dead in a ritualistic slaying. But if that wasn’t enough drama to close out the season and mark a milestone, Scola (played by John Boyd) will face a life-or-death decision. Shantel VanSanten guest-stars as Nina Chase.”
FBI airs on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on CBS.
For more on primetime shows, check out our photo gallery on the best nighttime soaps ranked.
ncG1vNJzZmirn5a9tHrSoZykpp%2BswG%2BvzqZmrKeRpcBwusSwqmhuZmx9dISOrJ%2BapqSauW7CwKeqmqakmrtuvNGenqeZnql8