With the good news that A.J. Cook (Jennifer 'J.J.' Jareau) and Paget Brewster (Emily Prentiss) will be returning full time to Criminal Minds, fans will likely be unhappy to hear that contract negotiations with Thomas Gibson (Aaron 'Hotch' Hotchner) have still not been resolved and shooting for season 7 commences next month. Gibson is currently at the Monte-Carlo TV Festival with fellow cast member Matthew Gray Gubler (Dr. Spencer Reid) and both stars spoke to E!Online about these negotiations and their thoughts on their returning cast members.

Thomas Gibson didn't reveal much about these current contract negotiations other than to say that he hoped that he would be back next season, something that he has already said on his Twitter. Though he seemed to acknowledge that this was indeed rather late in terms of when the show will start shooting again. Hotch is such an important character on the show and it is hard to imagine what the group dynamic would be without him. After all the turmoil regarding the cast last year I would imagine that there will be a large portion of the audience who would be less than happy if these negotiations fail and Hotch does not return.

Co-star Matthew Gray Gubler also addresses the situation regarding Thomas Gibson's contract negotiations and is rather diplomatic in his response. He acknowledges that this is the business side of this industry that everyone has to partake in and he refers to Hollywood as being "a strange place" (as did Elijah Wood in an article that was posted yesterday, must be a common feeling when looking at art vs commerce in show business). Gubler refers to himself as being "an eternal optimist" and that he tries to look at the simpler sides of the entertaining part of his job rather than the business side of it all. However after what happened to his co-stars last year it is clear that this was something that he disagreed with, when asked about Brewster and Cook he stated:

"We lost her [Paget Brewster] and A.J. Cook for no reason at all, on just on a whim, and that is sort of offensive to me because they're my friends, and they did a good job, and the fans liked them. At the same time I understand that we are all grownups and six years ago we signed contracts that said they could fire us."

Gubler despite his optimistic approach, understands the nature of this business even if he disagrees with the decisions that are made at the top. He is hopeful that Hotch will be back in season 7 and I'm sure many of the fans will want this hope to turn out to be true. For more from Gibson and Gubler at the Monte-Carlo TV Festival head over to E!Online for the full interviews.

So Criminal Minds fans does Thomas Gibson not being guaranteed for next season worry you? If he did leave would you still watch? Let us know in the comments below.


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