If you've found yourself tuning into reruns of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" and were upset to see Detective Olivia Benson missing from a few episodes, we're right there with you. Mariska Hargitay briefly left the show during its eighth season. While fans and crew were sad to see her step away temporarily, the reason behind her leave was a happy one.

As it turns out, Hargitay was pregnant at the time of filming. While they attempted to cover it up, it eventually got to the point where she stepped away for maternity leave, the star explained to TV Guide in 2006.

And in a 2007 Movie Webb interview alongside "SVU" executive producer Neal Baer, Hargitay was asked if there was any chance of the writers working her pregnancy into the show. She shared, "No. There wasn't. I didn't know what they were going to do. The show being what it is and the writing being what it is, I had utter trust that they would come up with an amazing sort of answer to it. It was great." She added, "It was actually really fun and really challenging to cover it up and I think they handled it really well and really creatively." There you have it!