ABC/Vivian ZinkWow. Just...wow.
Sources connected to the show have just confirmed to me that we probably won't being seeing as much of the divine Ms. Rebecca Romijn as Alexis Meade on Ugly Betty next year. I'm told she's going from a series regular to a recurring character, and this change in status was not her own doing but rather the producers' decision.
Rebecca told the New York Post's Popwrap yesterday, "They made a tremendous amount of changes, especially with the writing staff [during the writers' strike]. And while I know I'll be coming back next season, with all the changes, I'm not sure they can take care of my character they way they have been. So I'll be leaving, back in a recurring capacity, but time for me to leave and find something else."
Why exactly the downgrade from regular to recurring? Well, according to my sources it was specifically the firing of executive producer Marco Pennette on the day the strike ended that led to the diminishment of Rebecca's role. Her character, the show's glamazon transexual, Alexis Meade, was one that he created and championed.
Surviving show runner Silvio Horta has gone on record as saying Marco was "a big part of Ugly Betty's gay sensibility," so without Marco at the helm, could the second-gayest show on TV (after Project Runway), be running scared from Alexis' transsexual storylines?
Everyone who's seen the show knows the series has treated the topic of Alex Meade's sex change with both grace and humor, so…what's the deal?
I mean, have you seen Rebecca Romijn?! She's hot and fabulous and funny, and I'm so confused. What happened here? I know too many cooks in the kitchen spoil the soup, but don't too many talented hot chicks on a TV series just make it better? Your theories are very welcome below, because I am stumped.
No comment yet from ABC, but we'll let you know when we hear back.