Chris Hardwick will return as the host of Talking Dead following an investigation into allegations his former girlfriend was abused.

Hardwick had been pulled from The Walking Dead aftershow after Chloe Dykstra said she was sexually and emotionally abused by an ex-boyfriend.

Dykstra, 29, never named the man and Hardwick, 46, denied any wrongdoing.

Now, following an investigation, US TV network AMC has announced Hardwick will return as Talking Dead host and present his own weekly talkshow, Talking With Chris Hardwick.

He will make his Talking Dead comeback on August 12 following the mid-season premiere of The Walking Dead spin-off Fear The Walking Dead.

Yvette Nicole Brown, who had replaced Hardwick at several San Diego Comic-Con panels earlier this month, had been named Talking Dead interim host while the investigation was being carried out and will host The Walking Dead series nine preview special on August 9.

She will also appear as a guest on the premiere of Talking Dead.

In a statement released on Wednesday, a spokesman for AMC said: “Following a comprehensive assessment by AMC, working with Ivy Kagan Bierman of the firm Loeb & Loeb, who has considerable experience in this area, Chris Hardwick will return to AMC as the host of Talking Dead and Talking with Chris Hardwick.

“We take these matters very seriously and given the information available to us after a very careful review, including interviews with numerous individuals, we believe returning Chris to work is the appropriate step.”

Series nine of The Walking Dead will premiere on October 7.