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Connie Britton Speaks Out About Huge ‘Nashville’ Decision That Shocked Fans

By Mandy Robinson
Published on: 14:44 PST, Feb 23, 2017

The fans of Nashville were totally shocked tonight as they saw the show make the decision to kill off Rayna James, played by Connie Britton. ABC actually canceled Nashville and CMT brought it back. Fans were happy that the main characters came over and stuck it out, but now the show has done something that shocked everyone. After a bad wreck last week, Nashville made the choice to kill off Rayna tonight, but it sounds like Connie Britton actually made this choice herself. TV Line shared that Connie is speaking out about why she was ready to move on from the show.

At the very end of the show tonight, Connie’s character passed away with the love of her life, Deacon, by her side. There has been a lot of speculation that Connie Britton would be leaving the show, and it has now been confirmed. Connie was asked if it was her choice to leave the show and she explained the following.

“It was. It was something that had been percolating over time, and there were lots of different reasons behind it. But my priority was really making sure that the timing was right. My priority has always been Nashville. So when the show was moved to CMT and we got these great new showrunners — Marshall Herskovitz and Ed Zwick — I was [confident] the show would be in a good place. Because one thing we learned over the summer is how passionate the fans are. We would not be on the air right now if it weren’t for the fans. We’ve all been so incredibly grateful for that. But the fans love every single one of these characters. And the show is now in a place where all of these characters can live and just be incredibly dynamic and amazing. I feel like Nashville can go on indefinitely.”

A lot of people feel like the show can’t go on without Connie Britton, but she really does feel like it can continue without her. Britton shared that it was just the right timing for her to move on. She didn’t second guess her choice once they started filming the death scenes, but Connie did admit that they were hard to do. She didn’t have any say in the way that Rayna would leave the show, but Britton seems totally okay with how it all played out for her character.

Right now, Connie Britton is taking a bit of a break. She said that she has a few films going on, but after working non-stop on shows for 10 years, she is ready for a break. Her fans will follow her and watch her wherever she ends up next.

The Hollywood Reporter shared last week that fans were wondering if this was the end of Connie Britton and it turns out that it was, even though nobody really knew. Rayna was able to escape her stalker, but it was actually a car crash that ended up taking her life. The show ended with that last week and this week ended with her death. There will be a lot of story to tell about what Rayna’s death means and how it affects everyone on the show. Connie did tell Ellen “I’m in. I’m in for the duration,” but it turns out she just meant the duration of her character.

Are you shocked to hear that Connie Britton left Nashville? Do you think that the show can continue without her? Sound off in the comments section below on your thoughts, and don’t miss new episodes of Nashville on Thursday nights on CMT.

[Featured Image By Rich Polk/Getty Images for IMDb]

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