Ian was always just a supporting character and his departure from Workin’ Moms was inevitable from the beginning of the show.
Workin’ Moms follows the lives and challenges faced by a group of mom friends who are trying to adjust to their new responsibilities.
Ian Matthews was a supporting character and a sort-of working mom that departed from the series after season four. Although this departure felt abrupt at the time, there were actually many clues that Ian would eventually leave the show.
What is Workin’ Moms all about?
When the Canadian series, Workin’ Moms, first started airing in 2017, audiences did not quite know what to expect.
Fortunately, the story of a group of friends struggling to find their place in the world as women and mothers, led by Catherine Reitman (as Kate), Jessalyn Wanlim (as Jenny), Dani Kind (as Anne), Enuka Okuma (as Sloane), and Juno Rinaldi (as Frankie), managed to capture the hearts of fans almost instantly.
This sitcom proves that while most moms can and do “do it all,” this group of mom friends may just lose what is left of their sanity and dignity in the process.
5 reasons why Ian’s departure from Workin’ Moms was inevitable
It takes a village to raise a child and the characters in Workin’ Moms have certainly proven that throughout the course of the show’s seven seasons.
However, this tightly-knit group of mom friends is not the only members of their village. Part of what has made the series so relatable and endearing is the fact that many of the side characters are just as complex and well-developed.
Perhaps the best example of this is Jenny’s ex-husband, Ian Matthews. Ian (who was portrayed by Dennis Andres on the show) was first introduced to fans as Jenny’s doting husband in the very first season of the show.
Many fans of the show were disappointed when they tuned in to the fifth, sixth and seventh seasons of the show and found that this fan-favorite character was nowhere to be seen.
Sadly, in hindsight, there were so many clues that Ian’s departure from Workin’ Moms was inevitable.
The five most obvious signs that Ian would eventually be written out of the series include:
- Firstly, and most importantly, while Ian has done all that he can to support his daughter, Zoe, he is not a working mom, and would never have been accepted into the “Workin’ Moms” support group the way that the other mothers were
- Ian and Jenny were already on the outs at the end of the first season
- Dennis Andres was only listed as a recurring cast member, not a main cast member, for season four
- Ian could never hold down a job and showed no real growth in this department the way a main character would
- Ian’s relationship with Sonia was going nowhere slowly and this eliminated any possibility for a new arc in the show
Ian was always just meant to be a supporting character
Ian’s caring demeanor and good looks quickly made him one of the most popular characters on the show, but the reality is that he was always only intended to be a supporting character for Jenny.
Many fans have now turned on Jenny and genuinely dislike her character. But this does not change the fact that Ian, as a character was always just there so that her character could change and grow throughout the first few seasons.
Why did Dennis Andres leave the show?
Unfortunately, no official reason has been given as to why Dennis Andres left the series.
It is likely that Andres decided to focus on other projects, like the Netflix original series that he starred in called Feel the Beat, or the made-for-television films Blueprint to the Heart and Hint of Love instead of returning to Workin’ Moms for its fifth season, but this has not been confirmed.
Will Ian return to Workin’ Moms?
Many long-time Workin’ Moms fans have held out hope that Andres will eventually reprise his role in the hit sitcom, even though he has not returned at all after the show’s fourth season.
Unfortunately though, even though Jenny ended the sixth season of the show single, and this left the door open for Ian’s return, he will not be returning to the series.
The creator of the show, Catherine Reitman, has already confirmed that the seventh season of Workin’ Moms will be the show’s last.
Moreover, since Andres has not been added to the official cast list for this season, it is very unlikely that he will be included in the show at all.
