Patrick J. Adams Says He Was ‘Drinking Too Much’ and ‘Depressed’ on ‘Suits’

Suits star Patrick J. Adams is revealing the true reason behind his exit from the USA Network legal drama. Adams starred as Mike Ross on the first seven seasons of Suits before leaving in the Season 7 finale with on-screen wife Meghan Markle. He returned in a guest role for the ninth and final season, but that was it. While Markle left to attend to Royal duties, Adams admitted on Jesse Tyler Ferguson’s Dinner’s on Me podcast via Variety that his mental health was not at its best.

“I wasn’t taking good care of my mental health, and I was drinking too much [at] the end of Season 7,” Adams shared. “I was in a zone of living a pretty unexamined life. Pretty miserable [and] I would say, pretty depressed. I didn’t have the tools to deal with that depression beyond just spending money and drinking too much and not really knowing how to talk about it.”

“I would numb myself [to] deal with my insecurity and my fears,” Adams continued. “And they just weren’t working. And they were taking a toll on my relationship, for sure, but also just making me a very not present father. That, for me, was a breaking point when I was like, ‘I think I should stop drinking probably because I don’t wanna be that dad.’ The best thing I think I ever did for myself was stop drinking. It just needed to happen in order for all these other things to happen.”

By the time Season 7 ended in April 2018, Adams was just over a year into his marriage with Troian Bellisario, and the two were preparing to welcome their first baby later that year. Even though stepping away from Suits was probably a hard decision, it was certainly for the best. And his exit could not have come at a better time with Markle also exiting, so the series had Mike and Rachel finally tie the knot and move to Seattle. Adams also said that the only way he’d stick around for Season 8 was for financial gain, but his mother strongly advised doing the show if it was only for the money.

“The only reason to stay was… money,” he said. “I didn’t know what else to offer. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and think about the money [Gabriel Macht] made those last two years, but I never regretted the decision for a second. It was the right thing for my marriage. … It was time.”

Fast forward five years, and now Patrick J. Adams is doing a rewatch podcast with co-star Sarah Rafferty called Sidebar. There is also the upcoming spinoff Suits: LA premiering on Feb. 23 on NBC. Gabriel Macht will be returning as Harvey Specter in a multi-episode arc, so it’s always possible that Adams will return in the future. He did share his support for Suits: LA, though, which might be enough.