Nashville casts Rachel Bilson as a new series regular

In the wake of Connie Britton’s departure, Nashville is adding two new actresses to its season 5 cast.

The CMT musical drama is bringing aboard Rachel Bilson (The O.C., Hart of Dixie) and Kaitlin Doubleday (Empire).

The news was announced along with Thursday’s midseason finale. The show isn’t revealing anything about the new characters, but gave some hints via the actresses’ social media accounts — Bilson posted an image of the show’s Highway 65 record label and Doubleday posted an image of the Bluebird Café.

“We welcome Rachel and Kaitlin into our incredibly talented ensemble,” said showrunner Marshall Herskovitz. “We fondly anticipate the second half of the season filled with surprising twists and turns that make Nashville so beloved by the fans.”

After Britton’s traumatic exit episode, Nashville surged to a new season high on CMT last week, delivering 2.2 million viewers and a 1.0 rating on the cable channel.

The return date for the series has also not yet been announced.