'Walking Dead's Andrew Lincoln regrets his exit was spoiled

Andrew Lincoln, the star of The Walking Dead, has said that he’s disappointed news of his leaving the show leaked.

The British actor confirmed once and for all the widely-reported rumours of his exit in Friday while at Comic-Con in San Diego.

“I want to say something, because there seems to be an elephant in the room,” he told fans during a panel discussion.

“This will be my last season playing the part of Rick Grimes. Now hear me out, please. I love this show. It means everything to me. I love the people that make this show. I promise not to cry, I’ve done enough crying onscreen.”

He’s now spoken of a ‘sense of relief’ at the truth now being out there, but also of some regret.

“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 told Entertainment Weekly.

Lincoln has played sheriff’s deputy Rick Grimes in the zombie apocalypse show since it began in 2010.

It’s thought that he’ll appear in half of the next series before being written out.

Norman Reedus, who plays Darryl in the show, will now become the show’s lead character in season nine onwards.

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