Warning: SPOILERS ahead for the fall finale of NCIS, “Humbug.”
Since Wilmer Valderrama joined NCIS as Nick Torres in Season 14, fans have only seen a bit of his love life, most notably his potential romance with Ellie Bishop, who exited in Season 18. He is usually not one to open up about his personal life, but that might all change when the long-running procedural returns in the New Year on the 2025 TV schedule. The agent has a new love interest that fans have apparently seen before, and I have one idea of who it might be.
In the fall finale of NCIS, “Humbug,” Torres kept making up fake Christmas plans to hide the fact that he is actually spending the holiday with a special someone, as shown in the final seconds of the episode when he was texting a mystery recipient. While executive producer Steven D. Binder did not reveal the identity of Torres’ new love, he did tell TV Insider that it’s someone fans have met before:
I can tell you that we’ve seen this person before. This will be a character who has been on the show before and will be back again, and it’s going to cause some issues with some of his team members—one, in particular, may or may not be related.
Obviously, NCIS has introduced many characters throughout its run, but the fact that this character “may or may not be related” is seemingly pointing in just one direction: Jessica’s sister Robin.
Fans met Robin Knight, Jess’ younger sister, in Season 20’s Thanksgiving episode “Turkey Trot” in 2022. Robin hasn’t come back since, but it would be pretty interesting if she were to be dating her sister’s colleague. Robin doesn’t have the best luck with guys, and the show would have to explain just how she and Torres started dating, but it would make things pretty entertaining.
Torres dating Robin would also explain why he was being so secretive about his Christmas plans, initially saying he’d be spending the holiday with McGee or Jimmy, then saying he’d be alone. This would be a good excuse to bring Robin back as well and likely bring some pretty intense conversations between Robin, Jessica, and Torres, and some more complications to the Knight family. At the very least, Torres does seem happy, and even if he is keeping things secret because he’s seeing Jessica’s sister, it’s all the more reason for it to be true.
When NCIS eventually returns, more details should be emerging about Torres’ secret love life and who his mystery girlfriend really is. Whether or not it’s truly Robin should be something to look forward to, even if she does cause some trouble.
Other than Torres’ love life, there will certainly be a lot more to look forward to when NCIS comes back for its midseason premiere on Monday, January 25 at 8 p.m. ET on CBS. Those with a Paramount+ subscription can catch up on all the episodes now and make their own theories about who Torres could be seeing.
