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‘The Walking Dead’: Chandler Riggs’ Mother Puts Rumors To Rest About Carl Leaving Show For College

By Angelica N. Sumter
Published on: 11:51 PST, Nov 25, 2016

Rumor has it that AMC’s The Walking Dead star Chandler Riggs, who plays the character of Carl Grimes – the son of Rick and Lori Grimes – may be leaving the show to pursue college, according to the Movie Pilot.

But recently, Riggs’ mother – Gina Ann Riggs – has put an end to those rumors via social media when she posted the following: “Kick off the Thanksgiving holiday with a trip down to Senoia! Dad’s Zombie Road Trip has a tour tomorrow at 2:00. The link is in my bio for tickets. Fun fact about this wall: If you watch the opening credits, you’ll see this wall when Chandler’s name appears.”

In the comment section of that post, she later writes: “Don’t over analyze. His seven-year contract is up. That’s all he was saying, nothing else. Pretty big accomplishment for a child actor (and for the parent who had to quit his job for this child to be able to follow his dream).”

Speculations began earlier this month when Riggs tweeted, “Aye, I just got accepted to Auburn” – a public research university located in Alabama.

The Walking Dead star received a number of congratulatory tweets, including one from former TWD star Jon Bernthal – who played the character of Shane in Seasons 1 through 3 – where he posted a picture of the two of them with a caption that read: “Atta boy C nice. Congrats on college. I’m proud of you, Buddy.”

Getting accepted into college is a huge deal, but when the world learned of Riggs getting accepted, it left The Walking Dead fans pondering if he could possibly be leaving the show or would the writers kill him off of the show as he embarks on a new journey.

The idea of Riggs leaving the show for college has not been confirmed by any of the cast members, or the star himself for that matter, but in the latest episode of The Walking Dead, Carl seems to have been given a lot of screen time, leading fans to believe that they are preparing for Carl’s upcoming death.

Another hint that led to the theory of the The Walking Dead star leaving the show to pursue college is when his father, William Riggs, released the following message via Facebook.

“7-year contract completed! Grateful to AMC, Cast & Crew, TWD fan base and especially Chandler for always being 100 percent dedicated. Whether it was getting up at 4 a.m., working in the freezing cold past 2 a.m., leaving his friends and carefree kid-dom behind, scrambling to make up missed schoolwork, he has done it without complaint and always made me proud and amazed to be his dad.”

Thousands of The Walking Dead fans have pleaded Riggs not to leave the show for college and advised him to attend college online. One fan even suggested that he should work around the show’s schedule to attend classes.

“I’m not sure why people are so upset,” said Jennifer Cochran on Facebook. “Chandler is smart by thinking about his future because not every child actor becomes successful once they grow up. People should be supportive. I think it’s great he’s wanting to get an education.”

According to Riggs’ mother, TWD fans have been over-analyzing the situation and Riggs has not even stated whether or not he will be attending the university. All that was posted on Twitter was that the school accepted Riggs. He may not even be leaving the show at all, or heading to Auburn University for that matter.

No one will know for sure of Carl’s departure until you have watched the upcoming episodes as it was reported that the creators of TWD are notorious for keeping their cards close to their chest to avoid any potential spoilers.

[Featured Image By Larry Busacca/Getty Images]

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