Sam Heughan Skypes with fans for five hours at Wizard World Chicago

Sam Heughan couldn’t physically be at Wizard World Chicago, so he did the next best thing. He Skyped from his kitchen for five HOURS!

Wizard World Chicago con-goers were understandably disappointed with the news that Sam Heughan couldn’t make it to the event. On top of that, Caitriona Balfe had to change her appearance to Thursday due to her own filming. However, Outlander fans didn’t completely miss out.

Despite not being there in person, Sam did the next best thing. He Skyped with fans for FIVE HOURS. There was a queue for this, but he chatted with fans individually while he sat in his kitchen.

Why his kitchen? That was the room with the best reception for the Skyping session.

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• Will Men in Kilts be renewed for Season 3?
• The Couple Next Door is not coming to STARZ in September 2023
• How to watch the Men in Kilts Season 2 finale live

Wait, why couldn’t he be at Wizard World Chicago if he was Skyping from his kitchen? Well, he was originally supposed to be in South Africa for filming and then the schedule was messed around. At one point he didn’t have a passport because the visa office did and he was supposed to be on a plane to South Africa early the next morning (I think he did get on that plane but can’t be certain at the time of writing this).

While travel is a little easier for Sam than it is his 18th-century counterpart Jamie Fraser, teleportation still isn’t possible. It would have taken hours to fly to Chicago from his home in Scotland and that would have added time on his journey to South Africa to film Bloodshot. Getting to the Chicago convention just wasn’t possible.

There has been some backlash from angry and disappointed fans, leading to Sam having to defending his actions. It’s a shame when something so good is overshadowed by something bad.

Sam didn’t have to take the five hours out of his day. This was his choice and he’d requested for this to happen–not Wizard World Chicago! He knows how much Outlander fans love the show and wanted to see him and he was just as disappointed at not being able to make it. Skyping for five hours was an awesome thing to do.

Did you get a chance to speak to Sam Heughan over Skype at Wizard World Chicago? What would you have asked him if you had the chance? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Outlander Season 4 premieres on Nov. 4 at 8/7c on Starz. Like Claire and Jamie on Facebook for more updates.