22 stars who announced they were leaving shows in 2022
Many actors have walked away or been written out of television shows over the last year.
Henry Cavill dropped out of "The Witcher" and Barbie Ferreira left "Euphoria," for example.
Ellen Pompeo also announced her exit from "Grey's Anatomy" after helming the show for 17 years.
Ahead of its fifth season, Alexis Bledel announced her departure from "The Handmaid's Tale."
Bledel shared with the world that she wouldn't be making another appearance as Emily Malek in the dystopian drama in May. As viewers learned when season five hit screens, her character went back to Gilead, to seek her own revenge like June (Elisabeth Moss) did to Fred (Joseph Fiennes).
"After much thought, I felt I had to step away from 'The Handmaid's Tale' at this time," the "Gilmore Girls" vet told Variety. "I am forever grateful to Bruce Miller for writing such truthful and resonant scenes for Emily, and to Hulu, MGM, the cast, and crew for their support."
Barbie Ferreira announced her exit from "Euphoria" six months after the show's second season finished airing.
Ferreira played fan favorite Kat on the HBO drama but announced in a statement posted to her Instagram account in August that she would not be returning for season three.
Alongside a framed piece of fan art of her character, she wrote: "After four years of getting to embody the most special and enigmatic character Kat, I'm having to say a very teary-eyed goodbye.
"I hope many of you could see yourself in her like I did, and that she brought you joy to see her journey into the character she is today," she continued. "I put all my care and love into her and I hope you guys could feel it. Love you Katherine Hernandez."
Ahead of her departure, there was speculation about on-set drama between the actor and "Euphoria" creator Sam Levinson — but Ferreira shut the rumors down in a March interview with Insider's Olivia Singh.
After 12 years of playing Detective Amanda Rollins, Kelli Giddish left "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit."
Giddish began portraying the detective in the long-running NCB drama in 2011 and the most recent season saw her turn in her badge for a teaching job at a university, shortly after getting hitched to Dominic "Sonny" Carisi (Peter Scanavino).
The actor confirmed in August that she would be bowing out of the show and at the time, Variety reported that it was not her choice to leave.
The outlet reported that according to multiple sources, star and executive producer Mariska Hargitay and at least one other producer fought to keep Giddish on the Dick Wolf drama, but the decision was still made to write Giddish's character out.
The rebooted main series, "Law & Order," also lost a cast member this year when Anthony Anderson decided to say goodbye to the show.
Anderson's character, Detective Kevin Bernard, was one of the characters who reprised his role when NBC decided to revive the NBC drama in 2021. The actor originally joined the show during its 18th season in 2008 nd starred in the series until it originally ended in 2010 with season 20.
However, he only signed a one-year deal, meaning season 21 marked his last appearance.
After 10 seasons, Jesse Lee Soffer walked away from "Chicago PD"
Soffer played the role of Detective Jay Halstead on the police procedural and, up until this year, was one of few original cast members still a part of the NBC show.
However, his character chose to leave the Windy City and take a military job abroad during the show's most recent season, which began airing in September.
In a statement, Soffer said he "will always be proud of my time as Det. Jay Halstead," and thanked the cast and crew that he worked alongside.
"Dancing With the Stars" lost longtime head judge Len Goodman this year.
Goodman announced his decision to step down from his role as head judge on "DWTS" after more than 15 years with the US show during this year's semi-final episode.
The British professional dancer said he wanted to "spend more time with my grandchildren and family" back in the UK and so would not be returning for season 32 next year.
"I've been with the show since it started in 2005 and it has been a huge pleasure to be a part of such a wonderful show," he added.
Freema Agyeman decided not to return to "New Amsterdam" ahead of the show's fifth and final season.
Agyeman, who played Dr. Helen Sharpe on "New Amsterdam" since its 2018 debut, bowed out before the show wrapped up in order to sign on for another show in the UK.
"First off I would like to say a huge heartfelt thank you for your unending, dedicated, and deliciously ferocious support!" Agyeman said in a statement posted to Instagram.
"I feel very fortunate to have connected with so many of you over these past few years, while rolling around in the skin of Ms. Helen Sharpe, and witness every ebb and flow of your emotional investment. What a ride! Thank you for being on it with me."
Cecily Strong became the latest cast member to call it a day on "Saturday Night Live."
This year has seen many major "SNL" stars leave – Kate McKinnon, Aidy Bryant, Chris Redd, and Kyle Mooney, to name a few – but Strong's was perhaps the most surprising.
The comedian left the NBC sketch series during its final show of 2022, with the announcement of her retirement coming only hours before it aired.
F. Murray Abraham abruptly left "Mythic Quest" after two seasons.
F. Murray Abraham, the Oscar-winning actor who played C.W. Longbottom, the curmudgeonly head writer of the titular fictional video game, announced in April that he would not be back for the show's third and fourth seasons.
"F. Murray Abraham will not be returning to season three of 'Mythic Quest,'" said Lionsgate, the studio that produces the show. "Beyond that, we do not comment on matters concerning personnel."
It's not known why he left, but Abraham has starred in the most recent series of "The White Lotus," as well as "Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities," so it could have been a scheduling conflict.
Richard Flood left "Grey's Anatomy," saying he felt his character's story had come to "its natural end."
After portraying Dr. Cormac Hayes, Sloan Grey Memorial's head of pediatric surgery for nearly three seasons, Flood felt it was time to say goodbye to his character.
As Flood told Deadline, this feeling was shared with showrunners on the Shonda Rhimes show and they came to the mutual decision to write him off the show.
He said: "Having three years on the show felt right for me, and I think that the arc of the character with all the developments in the story was probably coming to its natural end, which was great. I was very happy that everybody felt the same."
"Grey's Anatomy" also lost one of its original stars when Ellen Pompeo announced her departure after almost two decades.
Pompeo, who was one of just three remaining original "Grey's" cast members, returned for Season 19 in only a limited capacity before announcing via Instagram in November that she would be ending her full-time run on the ABC medical drama.
Her character will get an official sendoff from the show when it returns for its mid-season premiere on February 23, 2023, although Pompeo will continue to provide voiceover narration for the rest of this season's episodes and stay on an executive producer.
Henry Cavill decided to walk away from Netflix's "The Witcher," resulting in the role being recast.
In October, Cavill announced he would be handing the role of Geralt of Rivia to "The Hunger Games" star Liam Hemsworth, seemingly to allow room in his schedule for the now-canceled "Superman" sequel.
"My journey as Geralt of Rivia has been filled with both monsters and adventures, and alas, I will be laying down my medallion and my swords for season four," Cavill said in a statement posted to social media at the time.
"In my stead, the fantastic Mr. Liam Hemsworth will be taking up the mantle of the White Wolf."
Jorja Fox said she decided to leave "CSI: Vegas" because she felt it wasn't right to continue Sara Sidle's storyline without Gil Grissom (William Peterson).
Ahead of the second season of the "CSI" revival spinoff series, Fox announced she would not be back as she couldn't imagine portraying her character without costar Peterson at her side.
Explaining that for her the drama "has always been a love story," she tweeted: "I personally just can't split Sara and Grissom up again. So goes Grissom…..So goes Sara. Wherever they go, they belong together."
Julian McMahon's "FBI: Most Wanted" character was killed off as the actor was keen to explore "additional creative pursuits."
Viewers said goodbye to the show's lead star earlier this year after he announced he was ready to move on from the character of Jess LaCroix after portraying him for three seasons.
Announcing his plans to leave in January 2022, McMahon said the showrunners were working to "orchestrate a seamless and productive way for me to leave the show," and in his final episode, which aired two months later, his character was killed off after a dramatic shoot out.
Another "FBI: Most Wanted" character was also written out of the series this year.
Miguel Gomez, who began portraying Special Agent Ivan Ortiz midway through season two, also parted ways with the CBS procedural in 2022. According to TV Line, it was a mutual decision.
In the show's season three finale, viewers saw his character return to Los Angeles to take care of his sick father.
The "FBI" family lost another much-loved character when "FBI: International" Christiane Paul announced she would be bowing out ahead of the spinoff's second season.
Paul's future on the show beyond season one was left unclear when her character, Europol agent Katrin Jaeger, landed an overseas promotion in the season one finale.
While at the time, no announcement about Paul was made, CBS confirmed in July 2022 that her character would not be returning to the Fly Team for season two. In her absence, Eva-Jane Willis was brought in as a new team member, Megan "Smitty" Garretson.
There was a major shake-up on "The Conners" when it was announced that Michael Fishman would not be back for the show's fifth season.
Fishman played D.J Conner in all ten 10 seasons of "Roseanne" and reprised his role for the show's spinoff, "The Conners" which first began airing in 2018.
However, it was confirmed in August ahead of the release of season five of "The Conners" that Fishman would not be back for any future episode.
In a statement, Fishman said that his exit from the show was not his call.
He wrote: "While I was told I would not be returning for season five, Lanford was a valuable place to grow up, learn and develop. I was incredibly lucky to return home and demonstrate my expansion. As I venture into the world to build the future, I send tremendous love and success to everyone involved in production."
Lisa Edelstein's time on "9-1-1: Lone Star" was short and sweet as she left the cast of the show just one year after joining.
Edelstein made a final appearance as Gwyn, Tyler Kennedy "T.K." Strand's mom in February 2022, only one year after she joined the cast of the Fox drama.
Although her character wasn't part of the main cast, this decision — and her character's unexpected death — still came as something of a shock to viewers who were expecting to see her storyline with her son continue into season four and beyond.
After winning over legions of fans as the leading lady of "Bridgerton" season two, Simone Ashley announced she would not be returning to "Sex Education" for a fourth season.
Shortly after the release of the second season of racy Regency-era drama, Ashley shared with fans she would not be reprising her role as Moordale High's resident mean girl Olivia.
Appearing on the British breakfast program, "This Morning" in April, Ashley was asked about her future on the teen drama.
"I get asked that all the time," she said, referring to the question of her return. "No, I'm a 'Bridgerton' girl now."
Gavin Leatherwood dropped out of "Sex Lives of College Girls" as he wanted to go "in a different direction" and pursue other roles.
Leatherwood played Essex student Nico Murray in the first season of the HBO Max comedy but announced he would not be reprising his role as the campus heartthrob in March of this year.
"There is a Season 2, but I'm not going to go back," he told Us Weekly, adding that he was "happy to do the first season," but he will now be "branching off and going in a different direction."
Nico's absence was addressed in the show's season two premiere, with his sister Leighton (Reneé Rapp) explaining that he had been expelled and had moved to Cornell after a generous donation from their father.
Lina Esco left "S.W.A.T." in the show's season five finale to "pursue new creative endeavors."
Esco kept her decision to bow out of the CBS police procedural a secret until the season five finale aired in May.
The episode saw her character Officer Christina "Chris" Alonso retire from law enforcement in order to take over running a local safe house for immigrant women.
Calling it "one of the most difficult decisions I've had to make," Esco shared in a statement posted to Instagram that it was a "pleasure and a powerful opportunity" to the openly bisexual Alonso, but explained: "I am leaving "S.W.A.T." to pursue new creative endeavors."
One week after his debut on "So You Think You Can Dance," Matthew Morrison said he would be stepping down.
The "Glee" star had only appeared on two episodes of "SYTYCD" before announcing that he would no longer be serving as a judge and was replaced on the panel by Leah Remini.
In a statement the Tony-nominated actor said he "did not follow competition production protocols, preventing me from being able to judge the competition fairly" amid allegations that he sent a "flirty" message to a contestant.
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