Larry Wilcox revealed new details about his exit from CHiPs more than 40 years ago. The actor played Southern California highway patrolman Jon Baker opposite Erik Estrada’s Francis "Ponch" Poncherello for five seasons on the NBC series, from 1977 to 1982. The two were one of the most dynamic cop duos of the 1970s.
So it’s no wonder that fans were stunned when Wilcox left the hit show ahead of its final season. At the time, the actor issued a statement claiming he was leaving the show to start his own production company.
But in a September 2025 interview on the Still Here Hollywood Podcast with Steve Kmetko, Wilcox, 78, dropped a bombshell about his CHiPs exit.
In the interview, Wilcox told Kmetko he received a call from his agent, telling him that NBC entertainment head Brandon Tartikoff loved his work on the show. But Wilcox said his agent added, “But they're going to let you go on CHiPs. …Erik had you fired.’ ”
Wilcox alleged that Estrada was involved in a lawsuit with MGM and NBC over an on-set motorcycle accident and that he threatened “either they agreed to what his demands were, or he was going to walk.”
“So Brandon said as much as he hates to do this, he really has no choice,” Wilcox recalled his agent telling him. “And Larry, Erik wants you out of there, and some other actors also. And you're gone. I'm sorry.”
Wilcox recalled planning a “defensive strategy” before the network or Estrada made a statement about his exit. “Because I look like the loser here. I'm not the loser,” he said. “I'm the victim, right? But I don't believe in victimhood. So, let's find a solution.”
Wilcox quickly set up an interview with the Los Angeles Times. “And so they published that Larry Wilcox has left CHiPs, made a decision to leave CHiPs. So everyone thought I left the show," he said.
Wilcox’s character was sent off to Wyoming and ultimately replaced by Officer Bobby Nelson, played by Tom Reilly.
“For a long time, I went on angry at Erik and p---ed off,” Wilcox admitted on the podcast. He added that he was able to forgive Estrada over time.
While CHiPs went on for one more season without him, Wilcox later reunited with Estrada for a 1998 TV reunion movie.
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Wilcox previously hinted that his exit from CHiPS wasn’t entirely his idea. In a 2013 interview with the Kickin’ It Old School blog, he explained, “I left the show and issued a quick press release that I was leaving. I felt the managers and attorneys with Erik Estrada were doing everything they could to remove or injure me. The daily innuendos and one-upmanship from certain plants or parties seemed never-ending. I knew that s--- was brewing, so I left in the nick of time.“
Wilcox also claimed that he was told that Estrada had threatened to leave the show unless “certain people were fired.” “So, I would say that my timing was perfect if this allegation is true,” he added. “I believe it was true."
Wilcox clarified that he had no hard feelings toward Estrada. “It was not personal,” he said. “It was just Erik surviving the best he could. Now, I look back and think that maybe I could have been a better mentor, a better friend to Erik, and maybe a better role model.”
Estrada has not publicly responded to Wilcox’s latest claims about his CHiPs exit.
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