What to Know About Nashville Season 5 Before the Premiere

Stars Connie Britton and Hayden Panettiere have been confirmed to return for the fifth season, but of course, Nashville has a giant ensemble cast. Thus, it's great to hear that Charles Esten, Sam Palladio, Jonathan Jackson, Clare Bowen, Lennon Stella, Maisy Stella, and Chris Carmack are all coming back as well!

Will Chase, who played Luke Wheeler, and Aubrey Peeples, who played Layla Grant, will not return.

The show was saved from cancellation by CMT, which will serve as its new home. Don't have CMT? New episodes will be available the next day on Hulu.

Season four of Nashville ends on quite a few cliffhangers. The fact that Panettiere will be back bodes well for Juliette, whose plane may or may not have gone down. Will Scarlett and Gunnar stay back together for good? Will Maddie pause her music career to reconnect with her family? Is Will going to keep fighting for gay rights in the country music scene? We'll actually get to find out!

The new trailer gives fans a sneak peek at Juliette’s plane crash from the season four finale.

CMT aired the first hour of the show’s two-hour premiere on Dec. 15. Fans can catch the premiere in its entirety on Jan. 5, at 9 p.m.!