"NCIS" is about to lose one of its original characters. It was confirmed on Tuesday, Jan. 5 that Michael Weatherly, who plays Special Agent Tony DiNozzo on the show, is leaving after 13 seasons on the hit CBS series.
The actor took to Twitter on Tuesday to reveal that his time on "NCIS" is coming to an end. Weatherly shared a photo of him on set and wrote, "DiNozzo is a wonderful, quixotic character & I couldn't have had more fun playing him over the past 13 seasons."
The 47-year-old also shared a photo of him and co-star Pauley Perrette and tweeted, "Les Moonves & CBS gave me the opportunity of a lifetime."
"I will miss the amazing crew & cast, who are like family to me, & to the fans all over the world- THANK YOU, it's been a fantastic ride!" Weatherly added.
After Weatherly's tweets, fans immediately took to the micro-blogging site to thank the actor for his 13 seasons on the show. And while many expressed their sadness over his upcoming departure from the series, saying that they were going to miss DiNozzo, there were fans who said that they were looking forward to seeing his future projects.
In a statement, CBS representatives thanked Weatherly for being on the show, saying, "We thank Michael for all his contributions to this successful franchise and we look forward to continuing to develop projects with him as part of our ongoing development deal."
According to Entertainment Weekly, the network confirmed the actor's exit after David McCallum, who plays Ducky on the show, revealed Weatherly's departure from the series in an interview with British publication Vulture Hound. In the interview, McCallum said that they are going to finish filming season 13 at the end of April and that Weatherly is leaving after the end of the season.
This is not the first time that fans of the series were heartbroken when an original character decided to leave "NCIS." Back in 2013 it was announced that Cote de Pablo, who played DiNozzo's love interest Agent Ziva, was leaving the show for undisclosed reasons. Since then, fans have always hoped for the character's return as the chemistry between Ziva and DiNozzo was undeniable.
After Weatherly's tweets, some joked that Ziva and DiNozzo might be reunited after all. Weatherly took to Twitter on Wednesday to say that his mother also thought of the same thing.
"Mom sent @nytimes #ncis article- she liked the picture," he wrote. "Then she asked if I was going to leave with Ziva. Oh Mom."
