Colin Egglesfield Speaks Out on Melrose Place Ouster

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Colin Egglesfield is beginning to open up about his sudden dismissal from Melrose Place—and the story he tells differs significantly from the official party line being touted by the CW.

While the show's executive producers suggested on Thursday that Egglesfield and Ashlee Simpson's characters were slated for the chopping block all along when the "Who Killed Syndey" story line wraps up in December, Egglesfield explains to E! Online that the decision caught him completely off-guard.

Says Egglesfield,

"I was slated to be in 10 of the 13 first episodes, but I had a multiyear contract."

So why did Egglesfield suddenly find himself out of a job on Thursday? The actor recounts his phone conversation with the show's producers, Todd Slavkin and Darren Swimmer:

"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 adds that, prior to that phone conversation, "never any discussion that they weren't sure what they were going to do with me or my character. And it wasn't like I was getting in fights with crew members or punching people out."

Colin concludes by saying that, since his character isn't being killed off, "It keeps the door open for, potentially, my character to come back, but who knows?"

Have your say in the comments section: Do you think the CW made a big mistake by cutting Egglesfield's character, or was it time to move on?