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The worst kept secret in Hollywood and New York is now official: Ashley Jensen will not be returning to Ugly Betty next season. In fact, she is slated to join the CBS comedy pilot Accidentally on Purpose (with Jenna Elfman).
EW’s Ausiello has confirmed the scoopage first reported by EOnline’s Kristin back in January (which we relayed and speculated about here). According to Ausiello, an ABC insider says that the break was “completely mutual”. Jensen was not happy with the move to NYC, and was the only cast member not to relocate. That was one heck of a commute! (Which explains Jensen’s amount of screen time on the show)
Executive producer Silvio Horta DID make a statement: "While we’re sad that Ashley will not be returning next season as a series regular, she is still a member of the Ugly Betty family, so don’t be surprised if you see Christina pop back up in Betty’s life."
So, that’s leaves us with a bit of speculation. What will happen on the show to explain Christina’s departure? My best guess, based on her behavior in 3.17, Sugar Daddy, is that she’s going to take the baby and go away somewhere. Now, it doesn’t HAVE to be a kidnapping. Don’t forget, Wilhelmina was acting like she was overwhelmed taking care of William (although the writers seem to have forgotten that she already has one child, Niko). Regardless, I see an adoption plot line coming up – especially after that speech Christina gave Amanda.
So, what do you think about Jensen’s departure? Any speculation about how Christina will leave the show?
Image: Bauer-Griffin
546 days ago
I’d think adopting William is highly unlikely, he is Willie’s golden goose, noway she’d let him go. My guess is the she’s finally becoming a designer, thanks to the spotlight at fashion week. So she’s leaving Mode to pursue a career. That’d be a happy path. :)
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546 days ago
Oh no,I just sad Ashley Jensen Leaving Ugly Betty without Betty’s best friend.I dont like Wilhelmina not watch or dont care of William.But I hope Amanda can care of him,not Wilhelmina.
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546 days ago
I was thinking the pressure of seeing a kid she can’t technically have every day would make her want to move away from it all. So the adoption thing makes sense….and the complete opposite as well.
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546 days ago
I’ll be sad to see Ashley Jensen leave. Although her appearances lately have been brief, as well as very few, she always makes the most of them with her delivery of those zingers that the writers come up with for Christina.
Regarding the baby’s name, William, I don’t remember hearing the name used on the show. When did they say his name? I was wondering when they were going to tell us what it is. I’m also wondering if she calls him William Meade, William Slater, William Slater-Meade, or something else.
As for Wilhelmina seeming clueless when it comes to raising a baby, I don’t think that this is very unusual because I never got the impression that she was ever much of a hands-on mother with Nico. She probably had a nanny that took care of all the messy baby stuff.
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546 days ago
[...] Ugly Betty News has the dish on the actress’ departure from the show. Read More [...]
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546 days ago
X-( There it goes again… another of my fav characters bites the dust. We kind of guessed this was coming, judging by the almost non-existent screen time Christina’s been having this season. Oh it looks like Horta was forced by the media to finally make an statement. But he just KEEPS *irk noise* saying: “so don’t be surprised if you see Christina pop back up in Betty’s life”. If they keep saying that popping in and out thing one more time… (like they did with Gio and Henry and Alexis). grr…
Whatever. At least some of the members are still alive. Unless they decide to kill Claire or Justin or someone else…
Humm… theories. I agree with Geek. She’ll probably become a Designer because she got an opportunity somewhere else. I don’t think she’ll kidnap William because he’s part of Willy taking-over-Meade-Empire. Now, if they do that it would be like… the ultimate disposal of all season 2 plot-stories. And I reckon they are crazy this season… but there’s a limit, right?
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545 days ago
I’ll be miss her.I like Christina, she’s funny and Betty’s best friend on Mode.I wish good luck to her next work.
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545 days ago
Ok, yeah I think its stupid they even moved the show to the East Coast. It was doing phenominally well in California. Bad case of “if it wasn’t broken, why did they fix it?”-itis. Now since nobody wants to hear what I have to say, I’m just going to be the annoying kid at day care/next door anyways. I’m sad that Ashley is leaving. I really like her character alot! She’s one of the sexiest (imo) reasons why I watch the show. To me, this show isn’t sinking because of the cast. If they found a new vehicle with different behind the scenes staff it would be a ratings blockbuster. However, the way the network promotes the show and how the top program brass are running things now its become very topsy-turvy this season. Here is how I see what the show could look like: Season I is a whole storyarc of “Who killed Faye Summers?” Season II an overall storyarc of “Who Will Betty pick: Gio or Henry?” Season III *should* be “Who is The Real Father of DJ?” *THEN* we could develop Season IV: “Who Really Runs Meade Publications?” I think despite it all, right now the show is flowering beautifully but its absolutely sad when the creators are looking to their next projects being greenlighted by the network that the bread-and-butter that is UB isn’t being stuck to like WWII Flyboys on Luftwaffe sending out fliers reading “Heil Shicklgruber” as a psyche out.
If this series don’t take for more seasons, you’re kinda cutting your own throat with any other ones. Of the moment, y’all will be looked at like the guys who killed not just a really good program but are also irresponsible at handling a major project. Blackball! Hollywood is notorious for playing “King of the Mountain” when it comes to being #1. You’ll work it up great but then they come along saying thanks sucker, we’ll take it from here with our guys that we’ve just paid off. Your friends, your family, hell maybe even the family pets. I’m the Ghostbusters, you’re the Mayor. Do we really need these other clowns trying to stop us from saving the lives of an entire ethnic community that buy more products every Sunday before church at Wal-Mart than mom and dad Soccer Mom do for a whole month at Sam’s Club? I’m sure if you look at it my way, we’ll both see what the corporate sponsors are really buying airtime for.
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545 days ago
Gio Bravo, I absolutely love your rants – they are some of the best I’ve ever read.
I don’t quite understand all of them, but they are extremely entertaining. :)
Please don’t ever feel like we don’t want to hear from you. I look forward to your comments!
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545 days ago
Tom, I was going to say the same thing. Gio Bravo’s posts are some of the most entertaining that I’ve seen anywhere on the internet, even though I rarely comprehend more than two or three sentences in each post. Gio Bravo is certainly never boring.
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537 days ago
When and what time will Ugly Betty be on again? Itruly enjoyed the show and always lookked forward to it I am truly an ugly Betty Fan.
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486 days ago
I hate this please get her some good stories you stupid bastered writers
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485 days ago
In an ensemble series there is a limited amount of time to devote to stories for all of the characters. I absolutely LOVE Ashley Jensen, but I can’t blame the (bastard) writers for her departure. She had been given a major story line with the pregnancy, but I think that for budget reasons, as well as the fact that Jensen, understandably, didn’t want to uproot her life and move from Los Angeles to New York, the “Ugly Betty” folks simply had to find a way to write her out of a bunch of episodes this season. We’ve seen this before… Other cast members have been written out of the show because of a combination of limited story options, plus budget and East Coast/West Coast logistics (Henry, Alexis, Gio). I learned a long time ago that things don’t always go my way on my favorite shows, so I have found a way to just deal with it and go along for the ride.
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394 days ago
[...] seamstress Christina McKinney on Ugly Betty (also, Betty’s best friend at Mode), but since leaving the show at the end of season 3 (at least as a regular character), Jensen has been working on the new Jenna [...]
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