Caitriona Balfe Had Outlander Fans Thinking A Surprise Guest Was In Season 4, And Hilarity Ensued

7 minutes ago

Fans of Outlander have been eagerly awaiting the fourth season of the time travel romance drama since way back in December 2017, and there are still months of hiatus ahead before Season 4 finally kicks off in the fall with new characters. Leading lady Caitriona Balfe recently shared an update on social media for fans, filling them in on the fact that Outlander filming was wrapping up. She tagged a number of people who work on the show with her, including on-screen husband Sam Heughan and on-screen daughter Sophie Skelton. She also happened to tag somebody who hasn't appeared on the show: Once Upon a Time's Colin O'Donoghue. Take a look!

For folks who actually read Caitriona Balfe's tags, they were likely surprised to see Colin O'Donoghue's name included. The Irish actor is fresh off his stint as Captain Hook on Once Upon a Time, which aired its series finale back in May. There had been no announcement that he would appear on Outlander, so Balfe's tweet seemed like a sneaky way for her to reveal that fans would get to see O'Donoghue on the show in the fourth season.

Well, as it happens, Caitriona Balfe's inclusion of Colin O'Donoghue in her tweet wasn't actually a reveal that he would be part of the show's Season 4, and it was O'Donoghue himself who called her out on mistakenly tagging him. Prepare yourself for something seriously amusing and check out his response!

Caitriona Balfe's mention of Colin O'Donoghue among other cast members was as much of a surprise to O'Donoghue as everybody else on social media! In a follow-up tweet, O'Donoghue clarified that he was tagged by accident, and Balfe responded with a "Shiiit" and confession that she'd tagged the wrong Colin. She'd meant to tag Colin McFarlane, who joined the show to play book character Ulysses in Season 4. After tagging McFarlane in another tweet, that seemed to be the end of the story for Balfe. That wasn't the case for the people who saw Balfe's gaffe and had some commentary.

Richard Rankin, who plays Roger Wakefield on Outlander, chimed in with a teasing tweet of his own:

Christ... You kept that quiet mate. Welcome to Outlander ????

— Richard Rankin (@RikRankin) July 3, 2018

ET's Leanne Aguilera had a comment of her own about Caitriona Balfe's "big reveal" of Colin O'Donoghue joining the show:

Hmmmm. Must investigate. ‘Scuse me...

— Leanne Aguilera (@leanneaguilera) July 3, 2018

Meanwhile, TVLine's Matt Mitovich wasn't ready to just let some other entertainment outlet get the official scoop:

I will FIGHT YOU for this stealthy scoop

— Matt Mitovich (@MattMitovich) July 3, 2018

Now, in Caitriona Balfe's defense, Colin O'Donoghue isn't just a random Colin that she happened to accidentally tag on Twitter. Balfe, O'Donaghue, and Sam Heughan have engaged in Twitter banter in the past, so it stands to reason that when she thinks "Colin" on social media, she thinks Colin O'Donoghue. Mistakes happen, and not all mistakes result in nearly this much hilarity.

I'd say that a few laughs are always appreciated during an Outlander hiatus. For some viewing options between now and the return of Outlander in the fall, check out our summer TV premiere guide, and don't forget to check out our picks for reasons why Outlander is the best show on TV. Outlander has a long future ahead of it, so it's definitely worth watching.