Outlander star Sam Heughan has opened up about one of the reasons why season six of the time-travel drama took so long to shoot.
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While the global pandemic did play a part in delaying the start of filming until January of this year, it turns out that the unexpected addition of Caitriona Balfe's pregnancy also affected the drama's shooting schedule so much so that some scenes had to be reshot.
WATCH: See the official Outlander season six teaser trailer
Speaking at the Outlander panel at New York Comic-Con earlier this month, Sam said: "When they knew. [Caitriona was pregnant], they had to really move everything around so we could shoot her out before she got too big… and she got big."
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"She did really well but we had to shoot some out of sequence," he explained. "We shot episodes one and three then had to shoot six or seven then it jumped back to four and we did a bunch of reshoots as well at the end."
Caitriona, who gave birth earlier this year and appeared at the event via live stream, jokingly added that they had to shoot scenes at very creative angles to hide her growing baby bump.
Caitriona was pregnant during the shooting of season six
Sam then congratulated his co-star for doing an "incredible, incredible, job" since she had to shoot season six "through winter, during COVID, and also being pregnant."
Caitriona surprised fans back in August by revealing that she had welcomed her first child with her husband, Tony Gill. Sharing a sweet photo of her baby son's hands to Instagram, the 41-year-old actress wrote: "I've been off socials for a while as I was taking some time to enjoy cooking up this little human…
Caitriona revealed she had given birth back in August
"We are so grateful for this little soul… that he chose us as his parents. I'm in awe of him already and can't help stare and wonder at all the possibilities of who he will become, where he will go and what he'll do on the big adventure of his life."
MORE: Outlander season six: everything we know so far
Fans will be delighted to know that season six, which will land on screens in early 2022, will feature a special 90-minute extended premiere. Speaking about the episode, Sam gushed: "I can't wait for you guys to see the first episode, it's like 'oh my, it's super strong.'"
Starz finally dropped the trailer for the upcoming season last month, teasing that a "storm is coming". Posting on Instagram, the official account for the drama accompanied the video with the caption: "Here we go, #Outlander fans! Watch the official teaser for season six."
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