Looks Like Andrew Lincoln Is Definitely Leaving 'The Walking Dead'

Fans of The Walking Dead, you are not going to like this: it appears that Andrew Lincoln, who plays Rick Grimes in the show, will indeed be leaving partway through the next series.

Michael Satrazemis, a director on the popular zombie series, has posted a photo of the two of them together.

The caption reads: "He is one of the greatest men I've ever met. And a friend. The show will miss him as much as you. It will be different but it will still be great."

It had bloody better be Michael, we're pretty invested at this point after eight goddamn seasons.

The rumours appear to have been confirmed by co-star Norman Reedus, who plays Daryl Dixon.

Norman Reedus/Instagram

Reedus posted a photo of himself and Lincoln embracing, with a simple love heart emoji as the caption. Meanwhile, hearts everywhere are literally breaking.

It's been rumoured that Reedus will take over as the show's lead, having been offered a decent wage. If it goes ahead, he'll become one of the highest paid stars on TV, even overtaking the stars of Game of Thrones.

Lincoln himself, who has been in the show since it started in 2010, hasn't yet commented, but he's only set to appear in six episodes of the ninth season.

Fans can also expect to jump forward for the upcoming instalment after a showrunner posted a photo with the caption: "Welcome to season 9! Here's to a great year ahead and 'A New Beginning'."

'A New Beginning' is the name of the 22nd volume of the The Walking Dead comic series, and that takes place two years in the future.

AMC

Now the fun of trying to guess how he will exit the show begins. The obvious way would be to kill him off (everyone else is bloody dead at this point anyway), but we reckon Rick will just walk off into the sunset in typical Rick fashion.

It's new beginnings all round when this new series begins, which will probably be in October like every other season. We left season eight with a defeat of the Saviours, and Negan finally out of the picture.

Showrunner Scott Gimple has told The Hollywood Reporter: "What [the writers] have planned... it just feels new. It feels like an evolved show."

Will it work without Rick? Might be time to kill the whole thing.

Topics: TV News, TV, The Walking Dead

Daisy Jackson

Daisy Jackson is a freelance writer, who has previously worked at Shortlist Media and Trinity Mirror. She has written about the Manchester terror attacks and appeared on BBC Five live to discuss the aftermath, as well as interviewing an orthopaedic surgeon in Syria.