Andrew Lincoln quit 'The Walking Dead' to spend more time with his family

Andrew Lincoln has said the fact that his office was thousands of miles away from his family finally caused him to quit The Walking Dead.

Lincoln, who plays the lead character Rick Grimes in the show, admitted that filming in Georgia while his wife and children remain in the UK was proving too difficult a juggling act.

“I have two young children, and I live in a different country and they become less portable as they get older,” he told Entertainment Weekly.

“It was that simple. It was time for me to come home.”

The 44-year-old actor has had to spend half of every year making the series in the US since 2010, when it first aired.

Though famous in the UK for his role in the BBC drama This Life, he was unknown when he arrived in the US to take on the part of the sheriff trying to protect his family following a zombie apocalypse.

He confirmed last month that he would be quitting the show after eight series, and will appear in only half of season nine, having already wrapped his final scenes.

“Completing the show was like releasing air finally,” Lincoln added. “And it was very satisfying the last two episodes in particular.”

He’s recently said that the manner in which the news of his departure emerged was not ideal, though there was ‘a sense of relief’ to have the news out there.

“I still regret that the story broke, because I believe in story and I think it would have been… it’s gonna be a great season but it would have been greater if it was not spoiled to a degree,” he said.

Norman Reedus’s character Darryl will now step up into the lead role from season nine onwards.

It’ll return to screens in October.

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