Catherine Hicks would forgive disgraced Stephen Collins for 7th Heaven reboot

Actress Catherine Hicks would be “happy” to reunite with her disgraced 7Th Heaven co-star Stephen Collins for a proposed reboot, after previously blasting him over his child molester past.
Collins, who played Reverend Eric Camden on the hit U.S. show, stunned fans in 2014 when he confessed to inappropriate sexual contact with three minors between 1973 and 1994.
The admission prompted co-stars like Hicks, who played Collins’ TV wife for 11 seasons, to express their disgust, and at the time, she insisted she would only be interested in a 7th Heaven return if his character was killed off.
Show creator Brenda Hampton recently revealed she was considering bringing the series back for another run, and insisted Collins would be invited to return.
“I would include him,” she told Life & Style magazine. “I think all the actors would like to do a reunion show. It would be really fun!”
Hampton believed Hicks would also sign on for the reboot, despite her previous outburst, adding, “I think Catherine was caught off guard and said something off the top of her head.”
Now Hicks has responded to the news of 7th Heaven’s possible reunion, admitting she has since had time to reflect on Collins’ sex abuse secret, and has decided to forgive him for the indiscretion.
She told TMZ.com, “I have no opinion on Stephen’s culpability, or not. We were surprised (by the confession), but we all love each other. We really… all worked together beautifully, and if they did do a reunion, I’d just be happy to show up and see everyone, Stephen included.
Hicks goes on to insist Collins showed no signs of inappropriate behaviour with minors during their time onset, and she is convinced the abuse incidents are firmly in his past.
“It was never an issue on our show,” she explained. “It’s just, sort of, another chapter… to his life, I think before we even started 7th Heaven. So therefore, it’s not a current issue so… being together and resuming our characters would be fine, because also the show is based on forgiveness, non-judgementalism (sic), humility, all the values that sort of make up a particular brand of faith.”
The original 7th Heaven series, which also starred Jessica Biel and Beverley Mitchell, ran from 1996 to 2007.