The Roman slave uprising has lost its leader.
The sexy, swordsy Starz television series Spartacus: Blood and Sand is going to be without its star Andy Whitfield for the second season. The network has announced that the series' chiseled hunk will depart from the show to undergo intense cancer treatments.
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"It's with a deep sense of disappointment that I must step aside from such an exceptional project as Spartacus and all the wonderful people involved," Whitfield said in a statement.
"It seems that it is time for myself and my family to embark on another extraordinary journey."
The 36-year-old was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma last March. The cancer had appeared to be in remission before this most recent announcement.