![Joshua Jackson to Exit 'The Affair'](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.hollywoodreporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/theaffair_107_0667.jpg?w=1296&h=730&crop=1)
The fifth and final season of Showtime’s The Affair will likely be without one of its central stars.
Sources confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that original leading man Joshua Jackson is unlikely to return to the Sarah Treem drama as a series regular. Details about the final season are still being worked out, but it’s increasingly likely that Jackson’s Cole will be written out before the show wraps its run.
Showtime declined comment; reps for Jackson did not immediately return THR‘s request for comment.
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Sources say Jackson has mulled his exit from The Affair for some time. The Dawson’s Creek grad initially only signed on for a couple of seasons and has approached his return every year since based on his interest in the creative. Details about the final season are still being worked out by the show’s creative team. But given that Cole’s onscreen love interest, Alison (Ruth Wilson), was killed off last season, there would be little for Jackson to do.
Wilson exited The Affair in August. Speaking with THR after Alison’s grim fate was revealed, Treem said Wilson had requested to leave ahead of season four. Wilson, who has largely declined to provide details surrounding why she wanted to leave, has only said that she isn’t allowed to talk about the reasoning behind her exit. The actress said it had nothing to do with her calls for earning equal pay to male co-star Dominic West. Showtime said in a statement that “everyone agreed” that Wilson’s character’s story had “run its course.”
As for Jackson, it remains to be seen if he will return for one episode or more, but he will not be a series regular. Stars West and Maura Tierney are both slated to return.
ET was first to report the news.
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