Pretty Little Liars alum Lindsey Shaw is speaking out about her firing from the teen drama.
Shaw, who played Paige McCullers on the Freeform drama, has revealed that her drug use and “relationship with food” paved the way for her departure during Pretty Little Liars Season 5.
The actress went public with her views on the matter with her Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide costars Devon Werkheiser and Daniel Curtis Lee on their rewatch podcast Ned’s Declassified Podcast Survival Guide.
“When I had my drug problem, and I was in between working on stuff, I would never have to address my relationship with food because I was always like, ‘Oh, I could always just go get more Adderall.’ Do you know what I mean? And, like, be okay with it,” the 10 Things I Hate About You alum shared.
“So it was really hard… I got basically let go from Pretty Little Liars in Season 5 because of the weight that I had lost, and it was really an embarrassing, embarrassing thing,” she continued.
“Like I didn’t look good too skinny, and then when I started to put the weight back on, I couldn’t handle it being too heavy, so it kind of played into this dumb cycle.”
Shaw said she was given the unfortunate news of her firing by creator I. Marlene King.
“I got called into the office… And [King] was just like, ‘So, we’re gonna let you go,'” Shaw recalled.
“She’s like, ‘It’s not because of your acting.'”
“She’s like, ‘But do you have anybody to talk to?’ And I was like, ‘Um, No.’ And she’s like, ‘We’ll find somebody, and we have to let you go for now.'”
The actress recognized the gravity of the situation but was thankful for the support she received and that she got to come back for Pretty Little Liars Season 7.
“It was really sweet because they brought me back in Season 7, and it was so lovely of that writing team to see that relationship and that character out,” she dished.
“But that was rough… They did me so right bringing me back for Season 7 and just letting me say goodbye.”
“I will never forget that.”
If you watch Pretty Little Liars online, you know Paige was introduced as an adversary of Shay Mitchell’s Emily Fields, but they later got into a serious relationship.
Shaw followed up her PLL stint with roles in Faking It and Lucifer.
The Pretty Little Liars franchise returned in 2022 with Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin, a reboot that takes place in the same universe as the shows that came before it.
Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.