Drea de Matteo is leaving Desperate Housewives at the end of the season, series creator and executive producer Marc Cherry said on Thursday.
Earlier this year, the Emmy winner and her on screen alter ego Angie Bolen became the subject of rumors that the character was being booted from Wisteria Lane less than six months after her series premiere. Desperate producers denied the departure reports at the time, but Cherry has now confirmed that Drea’s character is being written out of the show — with a final airdate already set for this May.
Marc stresses that the ex-Sopranos star was only under contract for one season and is glad to be saying “Happy Trails” to the ABC dramedy so that she can return to the East Coast.
“Part of the deal when we hired Drea was she was only interested in doing one season,” he tells Entertainment Weekly. “She has a baby and is eager to get back to her life in New York.”
Cherry promises fans “an explosive finale,” in which “all the mysterious parts of her past will be revealed.”