Amanda Righetti Leaving The Mentalist

Amanda Righetti is reportedly leaving The Mentalist this season, along with co-star Owain Yeoman.

But the news of Amanda Righetti’s Mentalist departure has not been made official, and is only at this point unconfirmed strong rumor.

Righetti and Yeoman portray Grace Van Pelt and Wayne Rigsby, special agents on the popular CBS drama. The exclusive report came from TVLine, and concerns the “Red John” story arc that is rumored to be why the two are bouncing from The Mentalist.

According to the site, the end of that storyline spells the end for Amanda Righetti’s character on the show, as well as Yeoman’s — but the why has not been revealed:

“TVLine has learned exclusively that original castmembers Amanda Righetti and Owain Yeoman will be leaving the CBS procedural toward the end of Season 6 (premiering Sept. 29 at 10/9c)… The departures of colleagues and sometime-lovers Van Pelt and Rigsby will likely tie into this fall’s unmasking of Red John, a six-year-old mystery whose resolution is poised to set the show on a new course.”

Bruno Heller, series creator of The Mentalist, says that he can neither “confirm or deny” the rumor, but adds:

“… this is the most dramatic and game changing season and anything can happen.”

Recently, Heller said of the Red John unmask:

“We’re not bumping off the suspects one by one… Some will meet an unhappy end, others will live to the denouement.”

In May, Heller said:

“They’ve always been in love with each other… As we get closer to Red John, all of the team members will start thinking about their major life decisions. That applies to both Lisbon [Robin Tunney’s character] and Grace. They haven’t been able to look to their own feelings. As the show rolls on, those feelings will come to the fore.”

Amanda Righetti has not commented on the rumor.