Andrew Lincoln is walking away from The Walking Dead.

The rumors have begun to spread like a horde of Zombies across the world wide web, after what will be nine seasons Andrew Lincoln is finally walking away from AMC's The Walking Dead.

As originally reported by the Hollywood Reporter, multiple sources have confirmed that Lincoln who has portrayed former sheriff Rick Grimes since the series began in 2010, is set to film a handful of episodes before departing alongside co-star Lauren Cohan.

While this has come as a shock to many fans, with Grimes still being upright in Robert Kirkmans source material, some have been quick to point out that after season eight which saw the surprising death of Carl Grimes anything is possible.

Lincoln himself has hinted at his pending departure multiple times over the past year. With his family living in London and him regularly commuting to the AMC set in Atlanta, Lincoln told The Hollywood Report in December that "there needs to an end game and that is something that is definitely being discussed" He then started in February that "There's certainly and endgame in my head. Whither or not that's the same endgame that's in the producers' heads or the people I work with, is another matter. That's open for discussion."

Meanwhile co-star Norman Reedus is rumored to be in negations to assume the leading role from Lincoln with an estimated contract worth more then $20 million dollars.

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Thanks for reading.