Emily Bett Rickards has announced that she will not be returning to “Arrow” for the eighth and final season.
Rickards, who has become well known in her role as Felicity Smoak, took to Instagram with a poem and collection of pictures of her character to reveal her departure.
The poem reads:
“The time has come to talk of many memes. Of bows and arrows and superheroes and Olicity and Queens
And why TGA is so damn hot
And yes, canaries need more scenes… But wait just one minute
before we go and do all that
For this makes me out of breath
To have this not small chat
Felicity and I
are a very tight two
But after one through seven
we will be saying goodbye to you
I thank you all for the time we’ve shared
The elevators we have climbed
The monsters we have faced and scared
And The burgers we have dined
I will keep her in my heart for always
And I hope that you can too
Because she would not be alive if it weren’t for all of you 💕
Love,
Felicity and Me”
The CW series stars Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen/Arrow who reacted on his Instagram stories to the news. “I need until Monday. For now, I love you.”
He later posted on his own Instagram page calling the first day he worked with Bett “the most important day in the history of our show.”
He added, “Her energy and the vibrancy she gave to Felicity Smoak is only surpassed by what she personally gave to me. She was a co-worker that became a best friend. So on the first day of our last episode together, I’d like everyone to know how deeply I appreciate the past seven years. EmBett… We wouldn’t be here without you. I love you. And I cannot wait to see what you do next.”
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Fellow co-star, Colton Haynes, commented, “You will be missed my love. So happy this journey brought us together.”
The rest of the cast will return for the final 10-episode season of “Arrow”.
Amell then took to Twitter Tuesday to share an adorable video of his 5-year-old daughter Maverick singing Rickards the “Greatest Showman” track “A Million Dreams” on her last day.
