PL was always out, he said he had his trip to Australia planned. But he would be willing to re-sign when he returned if they wanted him. I hope they don't, unless he intends to sign long-term.

MC I'll be sad to go. Matie sucks, but I liked the character of Mike.

Where does this leave Katie? I bet she goes after Jack!

Not if they recast the role of Mike. Mark may be the one leaving, but that doesn't really tell us if the character of Mike Kasnoff if going bye-bye too.

I don't watch ATWT now, but why not bring back original Mike, Shawn Christian!

Mulder, Shawn Christian has recently found success in alot of primetime series (such as Las Vegas. I doubt he'd want to return to soaps right now.

Venus, I was saying that because I just don't believe alot of exit stories these days until something more official becomes available. There's so many rumors nowadays and usually when TVGuide.com says they've "heard" stuff, it's those very same rumors. I just take all the exit rumors nowadays with a grain of salt. As for Collier, I agree with UKBoi..I think he re-signed with a stipulation in his contract saying he could have time off for pilot seasons. And for Leyden, he told them he was going on vacation back to Australia back when they asked him to come back to the show...and they said that that was fine. He's said numerous times that ATWT is more than welcome to ask him to come back after the start of next year after his vacation ends.

Not sorry...in fact, Leyden's departure is long overdue, his story has been mind-numbingly boring. All it did was delay the Carjack reunion, and not even in a very original way.

As for Collier, other than the Matie wedding, he's been pretty MIA anyway this year. I wouldn't be surprised if they end up recasting Mike. Can't let those sheets of Katie's cool off for long.

Can I get an HALLELUJAH! :D

Mark Collier's departure is long overdue since Mike hasn't had one good story since he came back.

Paul Leyden...surprisingly, I'm not sad about him leaving. It's a shame, though, how they managed to make one of the most charismatic, popular characters so boring to the point where people wanted him to leave. I totally blame the writing and sadly, I blame PL as well. He has made a point about how he's only acting now to pay the bills and how his passion lies in writing and directing. I think he's a naturally good actor but he's obviously not into his work anymore. I get when your in this particular industry, you need money to survive but it's been a pain watching the show completely bomb on this character and his return once again. I'm not exactly angry about it anymore, however. I became apathetic to the point where I stopped watching ATWT and didn't miss it. That's worse than strongly liking or strongly hating the writing.

http://community.tvguide.com/forum.jspa?forumID=700000047

Two Popular Hunks to Exit As the World Turns

I'm hearing that Mark Collier (Mike) and Paul Leyden (Simon) are both leaving As the World Turns at the end of this year. The two soap hotties will continue to air on the CBS sudser through January 2007.

This comes as no surprise, since it's well known that Collier and Leyden are interested in making the jump from daytime to primetime TV.

Pilot season lasts from January through April each year. So the timing of their ATWT exits indicates that the guys want to be available to audition for primetime roles out in Los Angeles. (ATWT is taped in Brooklyn, New York.)

Earlier this year, Collier took a break from ATWT during pilot season, then returned to Oakdale to stay a spell longer since he didn't land work on a nighttime series. (Hey, showbiz is tough!) As for Leyden, he enjoyed a taste of primetime success in 2004 as a regular on NBC's short-lived series LAX.

ATWT had no official comment for this story.

Can I get an HALLELUJAH! :D

LMAO.

Maybe this means that Katie will get sent to the backburner (**crosses fingers**). Seriously...I don't understand why TC and MC haven't left sooner. Sure, they get storylines 24/7, but they're all craptastic fluff.

Mike hasn't been useful since Day 1 IMO. They only used him as a prop to split Carly and Jack up for one of the thousand times. The only time I liked him was when they paired him w/ Jen.

And, while Simon is one of my favorite characters, the show once again managed to botch up his return. The man should stay gone this time around. It's obvious that PL doesn't want to be on the show since he's left some many fricking times. Why does he even bother?

I can't stand Simon so I can't say I'm sorry to see PL go. But I like Mark Collier and I'll miss him alot!