Lindsey Shaw Opens Up About Being Fired From ‘Pretty Little Liars’: ‘It Was Horrible’

Lindsey Shaw, who played Paige McCullers in pretty Little Liarsshe’s getting candid about why she got fired from the hit teen drama.

In a recent episode of the Ned’s Declassified Podcast Survival Guide podcast, the actress explained that the show’s creative team made the decision to fire her due to her drug use and “relationship with food.”

“When I had my drug problem and I was working on things, you know, I would never have to address my relationship with food because I would always say, ‘Oh, I could always go buy more Adderall.’ You know what I mean? And be okay with that,” Shaw said. “So it was very difficult. … I basically let go of pretty Little Liars in season five because of the weight she had lost, and it was really embarrassing, embarrassing. Like I didn’t look good too skinny and then, you know, when I started to put the weight back on, I couldn’t handle me being too heavy, so he played this dumb cycle.”

He 10 things I hate about you The actress proceeded to recall the moment she learned the show was parting ways with her, saying, “It was so bad.”

“They called me at pretty Little Liars from the creator [I. Marlene King] office,” Shaw explained, becoming emotional as he told the story to his ex declassified ned co-starring Devon Werkheiser and Daniel Curtis Lee. “And she was like, ‘So, we’ll let you go.’ She says, ‘It’s not because of your acting.’ She says: ‘But do you have someone to talk to?’ And I was like, ‘Um, no. And she’s like, ‘We’ll find someone, and we’ve got to let you go for now.

Shaw added that while what happened “was horrible,” she thanks the show’s team for “so carefully” letting her go. Despite leaving the series during the fifth season, Shaw expressed her gratitude to the series for bringing her back during the show’s final seventh season.

“It was really sweet because they brought me back in season seven and it was so lovely from that writing team to see that relationship and that character,” she said. “But that was hard.”

“They did me great by bringing me back for Season 7 and just letting me say goodbye,” Shaw said. “I will never forget that.”

In the series, Paige initially started out as Emily Field’s (Shay Mitchell) main competition for the top spot on the swim team, but their relationship ended up taking a turn and Paige became Emily’s on-off love interest throughout the run. program. .

Shaw also recalled feeling Mitchell’s support during the difficult time: “We went to the same nutritionist for a while. He brought me protein powder. She was like, ‘Girl.’ Yes, it was awful.”