Lindsey Shaw is getting candid about the events she says led to her firing from Pretty Little Liars.
The actress recently recalled battling substance abuse and body image struggles while playing the recurring role of Paige McCullers—a love interest of cast member Shay Mitchell's character Emily Fields, on the teen series.
"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 said on the July 5 episode of Ned's Declassified Podcast Survival Guide podcast. "I got basically let go from Pretty Little Liars in season five because of the weight that I had lost, and it was really an embarrassing, embarrassing thing."
She continued, "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."
Looking back, Shaw said the firing took place after she was called into the office of the show's creator I. Marlene King. "She was just like, 'So we're gonna let you go,'" Shaw said on the podcast. "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.'"
Shaw said it was "rough being told, 'Hey, we gotta let you go' and with care, with so much care."
E! News has reached out to King and the show's production company Freeform, previously known as ABC Family, for comment and has not heard back.
Shaw also said she received support from Mitchell amid her struggles. "We went to the same nutritionist for a while," she said. "She was bringing me protein powder. She was like, 'Girl.' Yeah, it was awful."
Ultimately, Shaw was brought back to reprise her role for the final season of Pretty Little Liars in 2017. "It was so lovely of that writing team to see that relationship and that character out," she said. "They did me so right like, bringing me back for season seven and just letting me say goodbye. That's so nice. I will just never forget that."