It’s been a long wait but NCIS fans will see Michael Weatherly and Cote de Pablo back on screens this September in NCIS: Tony & Ziva.

Michael and Cote first met 20 years ago in 2005 when she was cast as Ziva David in the CBS television series, which Michael had been starring in for two years. So it’s perhaps not surprising that Cote made the decision to not use an intimacy coordinator when she returned to the character for its recent iteration.

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“Did not need one,” she simply replied when asked if they were given on one set; intimacy coordinators are a relatively new concept for TV and film projects, and did not exist when they were both still on the series.

“They asked me first, I think because I’m a female and blah, blah, blah, and I said, ‘I don’t need one. Thank you for offering,’” she shared. “Michael and I have a lot of trust with each other and are great friends. So, when it comes to shooting these things, we don’t want to be micromanaged. We like to explore it, and we trust each other enough that we allow that to happen.”

© CBS via Getty Images
Tony (Michael Weatherly) and Ziva (Cote de Pablo) in NCIS 2013

Speaking to TV Insider, Michael said: “I said, ‘Whatever Cote wants.’ Love scenes are complicated because that level of nonverbal communication — you kiss someone the way you want to be kissed or you touch someone the way you want to be touched — that is a deep level of communication.

“Physical interaction starts with trust. Luckily, Cote and I do not have an issue in that area. We had to do that right out of the gate in [NCIS’s ‘Under Covers’] episode.”

© Jason Bell/Paramount+
Tony & Ziva will see them try to protect their daughter

That episode was episode eight of season three, Cote’s fifth episode as a main cast member, and it saw Tony and Ziva go undercover as two married assassins.

Their continued flirtations and cat-and-mouse like relationship saw them become fan favorites but romance developed slowly, with the pair dealing obstacles such as other love interests and Tony’s commitment fears.

© CBS
Their continued flirtations saw them become fan favorites

After eight years, Cote left the show in season 11 with Ziva being written out after she ran away to Israel to learn more about her past. Tony followed her to ask her to come back, and they shared their first on-screen kiss as themselves, but Ziva refused to return and they went their separate ways.

In the season 13 finale, audiences are told that Ziva was k!lled by a mortar @ttack arranged by a former CIA Agent, and Tony discovers that Ziva had given birth to his daughter, Tali.

Three years later in the season 16 episode “She”, it is revealed that Ziva is alive and had in fact gone into hiding for the safety of Tony and Tali.

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Tony & Ziva will follow them as they are now settled in their lives in Europe, although not everything is as it seems.

The show – which will air on Paramount+ – has also been given a TV-MA rating, aka for mature audiences only, indicating that the show will go even further than the original when it comes to graphic scenes or mature content between its leads.