Alycia Debnam-Carey Says Goodbye to ‘Fear the Walking Dead’ After Seven Seasons

Fear the Walking Dead just lost arguably its biggest star. On Sunday night, Alycia Debnam-Carey, who plays Alicia Clark on The Walking Dead spinoff, announced that she is leaving the show after seven seasons. Her final episode aired on Sunday night, and her character is able to fight off a fever after getting bit by a zombie. In her final scene, Alicia decides to help others instead of joining her group. 

“It has been the most extraordinary training ground as an actor where I’ve been given the chance to grow and learn,” Debnam-Carey wrote on Instagram. “I’ve had the honour of working with so many inspiring and talented people. It provided new opportunities, such as directing and it has bonded me to such incredible fans that have supported me along the way.”

Debnam-Carey has been on Fear the Walking Dead since the show began in 2015. The final episode the 28-year-old appeared on was the show’s 100th. “I decided it was time for me to move on as an actor and as a person,” Debnam-Carey continued. “As is the nature of our jobs I needed to seek out new challenges, new opportunities and carve out a new chapter for myself. I have been so lucky to be a part of something so awesome for so long but I hope you can understand and respect my choice to further expand and grow. I wouldn’t be here without you all and I am so grateful.”

Debnam-Carey’s exit comes a few weeks after she made her directorial debut on the show. She is now focusing on another project, which starring in the new Hulu series Saint X. Earlier in the year, PopCulture.com caught up with Debnam-Carey, who teased that she could be leaving the show this season based on the character’s fate. 

“It’s an intense position for Alycia to be in and definitely something that becomes a very driving force for her, going forward,” Debnam-Carey said. “I think whenever something like this happens, Pandora’s box suddenly is the elephant in the room and open for, suddenly, discussion.  “But I will say it gives us a lot of new territory to start to play with. I think the way we start to suddenly navigate how it is making her feel, the dreams she’s suddenly having, the fevers, this new reality she’s having to grip with, whether it will affect her long term, if this is something that is imminent, this fatalistic narrative that is now playing in the back of her head is, however, a very driving force now for her.”