Yellowstone fans floored as they discover Monica star's role in beloved noughties drama

Fans of Yellowstone are just now discovering that Monica Dutton star Kelsey Asbille once featured in a beloved teen drama.

Kelsey first graced our screens as school teacher Monica in the inaugural episode of Taylor Sheridan's acclaimed Western drama in 2016. Monica is married to Kayce Dutton, played by Luke Grimes.

Throughout the series, her character was central to several key storylines, including dealing with a severe head injury and grappling with her native heritage.

The final episode of Yellowstone aired in December 2024, and saw the Yellowstone Ranch being sold back to the Broken Rock Reservation, honouring a pledge made by the Native American community to the Dutton family.

However, some fans may be surprised to learn that Kelsey's first foray into television dates back to 2005 when she secured a recurring role as Gigi Silveri on One Tree Hill, reports .

Aged just 13 at the time, the actress, then credited as Kelsey Chow, made her arrival at Tree Hill High School in the show's third season.

Her character was the sole attendee at the sports announcer tryouts, thereby automatically becoming Mouth McFadden's (Lee Norris) co-anchor, despite her limited knowledge of sports.

Gigi sparked a romance with Mouth in the fourth season by informing him that she intended to ask him out.

Just a few episodes later, Gigi took Mouth by surprise again when she revealed her plans to end their relationship.

Mouth was left bewildered as he tried to keep their romance alive, but Gigi made it clear that their paths were diverging due to attending different colleges.

Gigi made a comeback in the sixth season when she landed an internship at Mouth's news station. She attempted to lure him away from his then-girlfriend Millicent Huxtable (Lisa Goldstein), but her efforts were in vain.

Upon discovering Kelsey's past role on One Tree Hill, numerous Yellowstone enthusiasts have flocked to X (previously known as Twitter) to express their astonishment.

One viewer said: "Finally catching up on #Yellowstone and just realised that @KelseyAsbill also played Gigi on #OneTreeHill," while another added: "Ok I'm late to the party on this... Gigi turned into Monica! #OneTreeHill #Yellowstone."

A third chimed in: "To anyone who has watched #OneTreeHill and is a fan of #Yellowstone did you know that Gigi from One Tree Hill is Monica on Yellowstone??" with another fan similarly sharing: "Hold up. Monica is Gigi from #OneTreeHill!"

Yellowstone is available to stream on Netflix