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?

America’s unemployment statistics have just grown by one. Actually, two.

EW.com reports that Ashlee Simpson has been relieved of her duty as a cast member of Melrose Place, along with Colin Egglesfield. The pair’s last episode will run in January.

Melrose Place executive producer Todd Slavkin explains that Simpson and Egglesfield were dropped because the “Who Killed Sydney?” plot line will wrap up in December, at which point the pair’s characters will have outlived their usefulness.

Says Slavkin,

“We always knew that this murder mystery would end in episode 12. And we always knew that [Ashlee's] character of Violet would be instrumental in that as a suspect, and [Colin's character of] Augie as well. And once that murder mystery was solved, she would go on her way. That was the original plan going into the development of the show.”

Following Simpson and Egglesfield’s departure, original Melrose Place resident Heather Locklear is coming aboard, along with several new faces, for what Slavkin calls a “much more fun, romantic, sexy upbeat kind of show.”

On the plus side, at least Simpson will have a lot more time to spend with her son Bronx Mowgli.

Let us know in the comments section: Will you be sad to see Ashlee go?

The revamped version of ’90s nighttime soap Melrose Place isn’t scheduled to debut until the fall, but the CW has compiled a preview of the series—which stars Stephanie Jacobsen, Colin Egglesfield and, of course, Ashlee Simpson—to whet everyone’s collective appetite.

Judging from the above clip, audiences can look forward to romantic intrigue, ambition run wild, and an industrial-size dose of cheesy drama.

In other words, pretty much just like the original.

Check out the video and have your say in the comments section: Are you looking forward to checking out the new Melrose Place, or do you plan on skipping it?