One Tree Hill: No More Leyton?

Lucas and Peyton have been the romantic interests of the popular hit WB show, One Tree Hill, since its roots nearly seven years ago. What started out as a simple crush has now blossomed into a marriage - and a pregnancy. Is it fair to devoted Leyton fans that these two main characters are being removed from the show? Or is it time for the show to move on beyond the Leyton drama?

A representative from CW and EW's Michael Ausiello have confirmed that Chad Michael Murray and Hilarie Burton will not be returning to the show in Season 7. There will, however, be new cast members introduced to the show. One of the new, permanent cast members will be the hunky, Austin Nichols, who plays the movie producer smitten with Brooke Davis (Los Angeles Times).

Buddy TV also announced that Spoiler TV has released the other cast members: Quinn, Haley's older sister, Alexis, a model for Clothes Over Bros, and Clayton, a sports agent that will be working closely with Nathan (Buddy TV).

Everyone is asking why, why, why? Well, The Los Angeles Times reported that Chad Michael Murray was speaking with some fans and said One Tree Hill was not going to bring him back because they wanted to save money. Little did he know, he was being video taped and the video leaked out onto the Internet. After I continued to research and read articles and blogs I discovered that Chad Michael Murray had supposedly asked for more money to continue the show. When the show turned him down on the offer, it resulted in having to write Hilarie Burton out of the script. Hilarie Burton's video on YouTube clears this up a little bit, when she says she wishes she had "creative control over the show" (YouTube). She also wanted to make it very clear that she was not abandoning the character, Peyton, and that she will always cherish the role she had in One Tree Hill.

What does this say for the season finale on May 18th? Will Peyton die? Will Lucas die, or will he leave Tree Hill because he can't bear to be there without Peyton?