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Wow! As a follower of the new Melrose Place, I can’t believe The CW has announced that they are cutting two of its stars — Ashlee Simpson-Wentz, who played Violet, and Colin Egglesfield, who played Auggie.
The timing to me is a little weird because a spoiler had recently been leaked that a major character death was coming up. And that would lead viewers to believe the death will be either Violet or Auggie.
Because Violet’s character is so creepy, we knew she wasn’t going to last long on Melrose Place. But still….
But Auggie? What did poor Auggie do?
E! Online has the scoop. According to E!, The CW has confirmed that Ashlee Simpson-Wentz and Colin Egglesfield will be let go from the cast in January. In their place, new characters will arrive.
The show producers said because of the Sydney murder mystery, it was always part of the plan.
“We always knew that this murder mystery would end in episode 12…And once that murder mystery was solved, [Ashlee] would go on her way,” producer Todd Slavkin told E!.
Simpson-Wentz released a statement to E! about leaving the show:
“Having the chance to play Violet on Melrose Place has been a thrill. Although I always knew her story would come to a final, insanely unpredictable end, playing a creepy, unstable character was something I always wanted to do, so I jumped at the chance. Thanks to the CW and the entire cast and crew of Melrose Place for allowing me this opportunity!” Ashlee Simpson-Wentz said in a release to E!.
But was the decision to let Egglesfield go for plot purposes or something else?
In an exclusive interview with E! Online, Egglesfield reveals why he was let go from Melrose Place.
Instead of hearing about plot, sounds like Egglesfield was told it was about the show’s tone.
“[They said it] was a network decision and obviously the ratings aren’t what they need or want them to be, so they’re going to try things to shake things up,” Egglesfield said in an E! Online interview.
Producers Slavkin and Darren Swimmer called Egglesfield Thursday morning to tell him the news, saying it was a network decision. It had nothing to do with his talent, etc.
“They were really saddened, and you could tell it was difficult for them to break this news to me. They said it was a network decision, and they said the network thought Auggie was a little too dark, with his alcoholism. They felt like in the landscape of Melrose they wanted to change the tone of the show. So that’s the explanation that they gave me,” Egglesfield told E!.
Let me jump in right here and say what the hell? Why is an alcoholism storyline “dark”? But it’s okay for a student doctor to be a high society call girl and another to be a jewelry thief? Okay…..
And Auggie’s not being killed off — his character will be leaving with the potential for keeping the door open (though there’s nothing planned).
So how will they tie up Auggie’s loose ends?
According to Egglesfield, Aggie’s relationship with Riley (Jessica Lucas) will come to a head in the next episode — and it doesn’t look good for Auggie. Plus, he will get in a fight with his boss at work. And there’s no future with Violet, obviously.
“So, a relationship with a girl that I am in love with isn’t working out, and my career is not working out, and the only other thing Auggie has is his alcohol, so we see Auggie face the decision of whether or not to hit the bottle again. And, of course, Violet is in the mix. She always seems to creep up, you know, in all the different weird places—and she does that here, too. So there’s a lot of really cool stuff coming up,” Egglesfield teases to E!
I will miss Auggie - the best-looking guy on Melrose Place in my opinion. We didn’t even get to enjoy any Auggie sex scenes really (except one with Sydney). Dang!
I hope we will see Colin Egglesfield in other TV shows in the near future.