The Real Reason Andrew Lincoln Left The Walking Dead
After headlining "The Walking Dead" as Rick Grimes for over 100 episodes across nine seasons, Andrew Lincoln decided it was time to step away from the show.
Ahead of his final run as a series regular in 2018, Lincoln revealed to Entertainment Weekly that his decision to leave revolved around his family, who remained in England while he filmed "The Walking Dead" in Georgia. "I have two young children, and I live in a different country, and they become less portable as they get older," he said. "It was that simple. It was time for me to come home."
Norman Reedus, who played Daryl Dixon throughout all 11 seasons of "The Walking Dead" before receiving his own spin-off, reflected on Lincoln's departure in a 2022 interview with the Los Angeles Times."I knew Andy was going to leave the show months before anybody else did," Reedus shared. "When he came to me and he told me that he asked to [quit], he's not seeing his kids grow up and they're way over in London, I got it. I understood it. But that was a bummer for me."
Andrew Lincoln returned to The Walking Dead after his exit
Naturally, many fans were devastated to see the protagonist of "The Walking Dead" depart. AMC's hit zombie apocalypse show concluded Rick's arc by having him sacrifice himself for his friends by blowing up a bridge, though it's later revealed that he survived his injuries and was taken away by a helicopter.
However, Andrew Lincoln's official exit in Season 9, Episode 5, wasn't the last time he played Rick in the franchise. The actor made a brief cameo in the 2022 series finale's epilogue and subsequently starred in the six-episode spin-off "The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live" in 2024. Lincoln was arguably the face of "The Walking Dead" when he chose to leave the show. The limited series, which centers on the romance between Lincoln's Rick and Danai Gurira's Michonne, served an important purpose for Lincoln.
When asked by the Radio Times why he returned in "The Ones Who Live," Lincoln explained, "Because people would stop me in the street and go, 'Where's Rick?' There was an unfinished story ... It was about reuniting two lovers and seeing if their love could survive time and distance apart."