‘The Walking Dead’: Speculation Begins On Whether Lauren Cohan Is Also Leaving The Show In Season 9

While it seemed likely that Maggie Rhee was set to play a big part in Season 9 of AMC’s The Walking Dead, thanks to her becoming the leader of the Hilltop community, news about Lauren Cohan’s other work commitments might now suggest otherwise. In fact, some media outlets are suggesting outright that Lauren Cohan is set to leave The Walking Dead in Season 9. So, is it true?

Recently, Lauren Cohan, the actress who plays Maggie Rhee in The Walking Dead, had been embroiled in contract negotiations in regard to Season 9 of The Walking Dead. In the process, Cohan also signed up for the new ABC series, Whiskey Cavalier. Eventually, though, the issue was resolved and Lauren signed a contract with AMC.

According to the previous Inquisitr article, Lauren also managed to secure time slots to film both series at the same time. However, as a result of this, Maggie was set to appear in only six of the eight episodes of the first half of Season 9 of The Walking Dead.

Now, it seems that the fate of Maggie Rhee has become somewhat murky beyond the mid-season finale of Season 9 of The Walking Dead. As yet, there is no official news about whether Maggie will appear in the back half of Season 9 and some outlets are suggesting this is because Maggie has been written out of the series.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Lauren Cohan will definitely be leaving The Walking Dead midway through Season 9. Apparently, Cohan “opted to exit the highly rated AMC drama and booked the lead in ABC’s Whiskey Cavalier after her efforts to renegotiate a new deal to stay on The Walking Dead went south.” While this is not an official announcement, and THR admits that AMC declined to comment on the matter, it is a concern as THR is usually considered a reliable source of information in regard to TV news.

If Lauren Cohan leaves The Walking Dead in Season 9, it means she will join original cast member Andrew Lincoln, who is also reported to be leaving the show according to this previous Inquisitr article. With Lincoln, who plays the main character, Rick Grimes, exiting the show, it will leave only Norman Reedus (Daryl Dixon) and Melissa McBride (Carol Peletier) as original cast members that can be traced all the way back to Season 1 of The Walking Dead.

Also, Digital Spy points out that both Lincoln and Cohan have been signed on for the same amount of episodes in the front half of Season 9 of The Walking Dead. This could be a possible indicator that the pair will bow out together. However, once again, this news has not yet been officially confirmed or denied by AMC, so viewers will just have to tune into Season 9 of The Walking Dead to find out the true fates of Maggie and Rick.

Season 9 of The Walking Dead will premiere on AMC later this year.