It was announced that both Ashlee Simpson and Colin Egglesfield were being written off of Melrose Place yesterday afternoon. Today the actor opens up about the surprising turn of events.

"I've had better days, to be quite honest. {They said it] was a network decision and obviously the ratings aren't what they need or want them to be, so they're going to try things to shake things up."

At least they aren't shaking things up like 'The Beautiful Life'! Here is the rest of the interview with E!Online.

You were initially hired to be an ongoing series regular on Melrose Place, right?
Yes, definitely, I was slated to be in 10 of the 13 first episodes, but I had a multi-year contract.

What happened to change that? How did you learn they weren't going forward with you and your character?
I got the call this morning from our producers, Todd [Slavkin] and Darren [Swimmer]. They were really saddened, and you could tell it was difficult for them to break this news to me. They said it was a network decision, and they said the network thought Auggie was a little too dark, with his alcoholism. They felt like in the landscape of Melrose they wanted to change the tone of the show. So that's the explanation that they gave me.

And this morning was the first you'd heard of it?
They said that it wasn't anything against me or my talent or anything. There was never any discussion that they weren't sure what they were going to do with me or my character. And it wasn't like I was getting in fights with crew members or punching people out.

Storywise, there's the murder mystery, although I could have sworn we already absolved Auggie of killing Sydney Andrews. Is this a twist thing? Are you the killer of Sydney Andrews who must be punished?

The way in which I'm leaving the show, I'm not being killed off, I'm just leaving. It keeps the door open for, potentially, my character to come back, but who knows?

To see the rest of the interview, click here.

Photos by WENN.com and INF