‘Criminal Minds’ Season 12 Spoilers: Did Kirsten Vangness Just Confirm That Paget Brewster’s Prentiss Will Replace Hotch As BAU Leader?

“Criminal Minds” is undergoing a series of transformations since last season. In the CBS crime series’ Season 12, Thomas Gibson got fired due to an on-set altercation with writer and producer, Virgil Williams. In order to fill the gap of Shemar Moore and Gibson’s exit, Paget Brewster, who played FBI Agent Emily Prentiss till Season 7, returned as a series regular.

Additionally, Aisha Tyler, who plays Dr. Tara Lewis, was upped as a series regular and Adam Rodriguez was added to the cast as a new character named Luke Alvez.

Now the question is: Who will take the role of the BAU (Behavioral Analysis Unit) leader after Gibson’s Hotch is no more on “Criminal Minds.” Speculations so far suggested that Prentiss would fill in his shoes, but now it looks like we have confirmation.

Kirsten Vangness, who plays tech genius Penelope Garcia on the long-running procedural, confirmed Prentiss’ leadership role in an interview to Starry Mag recently. She said, “Its’s great that she [Brewster] is back! It’s neat because the fan’s reflection of that was, ‘Oh my gosh! She’s back,’ which is pretty much what we were all doing. And I just found out the day everyone found out when everyone else did. She couldn’t tell anyone. It makes a lot of sense that she is now the head of the team. This is our first episode with this happening, but it is just lovely.”

The 44-year-old actress again confirmed Prentiss’ leadership role by saying, “I feel so lucky that it is so great, but the dynamic right now with her [Brewster] being in charge is so delightful.”

Vangness also revealed that Garcia will instantly dislike Derek Morgan’s (Moore) new replacement – Alvez. However, as Season 12 progresses, she will eventually warm up to him.

Furthermore, the new “Criminal Minds” poster (see below) does not have Gibson.

“Criminal Minds” Season 12 premieres on Wednesday, Sept. 28 at 9 p.m. EDT on CBS.