If you’re stealing hearts as a star of Chicago Fire, real-life first responders are bound to notice. For Taylor Kinney, the admiration for the One Chicago franchise once led to a humorous exchange with an actual Chicago police officer.

While chopping it up with host Kelly Clarkson during his virtual appearance on a January 2021 episode of The Kelly Clarkson Show, Kinney talked about the joys of settling down in the Midwestern metropolis. Considering Kinney has been at the helm of countless gripping rescue missions as Chicago Fire‘s beloved Kelly Severide and made roots in the Windy City himself, Clarkson was curious to see if Kinney’s status as a Firehouse 51 renegade had scored him any favor with actual Chicagoan police officers or firefighters.

“Have you pulled the card?” Clarkson teased, getting a laugh from the Chicago Fire fan-favorite.

“I haven’t really pulled the card,” Kinney said, pivoting to a story of a time when he came face to face with a Chicago police officer and his status as a One Chicago star may have helped him out of a pickle.

Taylor Kinney detailed his hilarious brush-in with an actual Chicago cop on The Kelly Clarkson Show

Kinney’s brush-in with the cops began on stormy highway while he was driving his motorcycle. “I was on my motorcycle. It was raining, it was cold, the traffic was really, really bad,” Kinney recalled to Clarkson. “And so I hopped off onto the median to the right side and just started passing all the traffic, all the cars in what would be either a bus or service lane. A cop car gets behind me, sees me, puts the lights on, pulls me over.”

Kinney had felt pretty confident he was in trouble for his highway hijinks. But as Kinney awaited the consequences, fate cut him some slack.

“The police officer walks up. I take off my helmet. And he’s like, ‘Oh, it’s you, the fake firefighter,’” Kinney remembered with a grin. “And we kind of laughed and had a chuckle. I think he made fun of me for a little bit, which is fine. Because then he let me go, he just said, ‘Get home safe, don’t do that again. And I like the show.’”

Kinney shrugged that the memory was the closest he ever went to playing a “get out of jail free” card.

Taylor Kinney and the Chicago Fire cast work closely with the Chicago Fire Department

You won’t find Kinney flexing his faux first responder status with ill intent, as the entire One Chicago family has a deep respect for the real-life heroes who inspire season after season of thrills. The Chicago Fire cast and production work closely with the Chicago Fire Department to bring these stories to life with integrity. Kinney spoke to the show’s dedication to authenticity during a Paley Fest Q&A in 2016.

“You don’t want to walk by a firehouse and have guys laughing,” Kinney continued. “And it’s been the opposite response. And yes, there’s creative license in television, but we do our best to tell honest stories, heartfelt stories.”

How to watch Chicago Fire

Ahead of Season 14 premiering on NBC in Fall 2025, you can watch every episode of Chicago Fire on Peacock right now.