Lindsey Shaw, who played Paige McCullers on the ABC Family teen drama Pretty Little Liars, has opened up about why she was fired from the hit series.
The actress spoke about her firing on a recent episode of Ned’s Declassified Podcast Survival Guide, where she and her fellow cohosts, her former co-stars Devon Werkheiser and Daniel Curtis Lee, rewatch and discuss their old Nickelodeon series Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide.
Shaw revealed on the podcast that her drug use and “relationship with food” played a major part in her being let go from Pretty Little Liars during the fifth season.
“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,” Shaw explained.
“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, who is also known for playing the lead in ABC Family’s sitcom 10 Things I Hate About You, recalled the moment she received the news about her firing from the Pretty Little Liars creator I. Marlene King.
“I got called into the office… And [King] was just like, ‘So, we’re gonna let you go,’” Shaw remembered. “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.’”
Despite describing the situation as “awful,” Shaw said she appreciated how the show let her go “with so much care” and was super grateful for the series bringing her back for the seventh and final season.
“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 stated. “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.”
Shaw’s character started out as a rival to Shay Mitchell‘s Emily Field but ended up becoming her on-and-off girlfriend throughout the series.
This story originally appeared on TV Insider
