Cameron Monaghan is also leaving Shameless

Another Gallagher is moving on.

Just over a month after Emmy Rossum announced her upcoming departure from Shameless, Cameron Monaghan has revealed that he is also exiting the Showtime series, with Sunday’s episode set to be his final as Ian Gallagher.

“I have been a series regular on this show for roughly ten years,” he wrote in an emotional Instagram post. “I was the tender age of fifteen when we shot the pilot, and I came of age in so many ways, both legally and personally. I was very lucky to mature and grow with this show. Experiencing so many firsts, maturing as an actor, a professional, and a human. In the process gaining friends, family, and the best coworkers a very lucky actor could ask for, and for this I can be nothing but gracious.

All good things come to an end. An old cliche, but one that rings true with a sincerity and clarity especially in moments like these. Everything ends.

The next episode will be my last. I have known since last year, but I didn’t want to give it away too early as I wanted this season to be a surprise for the audience, allowing them to experience Ian’s unsure journey with his character. This role has been a joy to inhabit, a wild and special ride, and I’d like to thank #Shameless as well as you, the viewers, for being there with him. Goodbye, Ian Clayton Gallagher. We’ll meet again?”

Along with the rest of the cast, Monaghan took part in EW’s recent celebration of Shameless hitting the 100 episode mark. “We’ve gotten to do 100 episodes of this thing that we love doing and that we care about,” he shared. “It’s this strange mix of comedy and drama and everything we didn’t know if people were going to like, and the fact that they continue to like it and the audience has continued to grow over the course of 100 hour-long stories is pretty phenomenal.”

Monaghan’s exit in the next episode has been set up by his character’s story arc over the past two seasons, with Ian becoming known as “Gay Jesus” and launching a sometimes violent campaign against religious bigots. Season 9 opened with Ian in jail after he set a van on fire, a crime that he pleaded not guilty to by reason of insanity in the final scene of the most recent episode.

When he’s not playing the third eldest Gallagher child, Monaghan has kept busy on Fox’s Gotham, memorably starring as Jerome and Jeremiah Valeska, brothers bearing a strong resemblance to the Joker.

Shameless airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on Showtime.

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