"The Mentalist" Exclusive: Amanda Righetti and Owain Yeoman to Exit in Season 6
by Michael Ausiello
8/6/13


It appears the fallout from "The Mentalist‘s" looming Red John reveal is extending to the show’s call sheet.

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.





In a statement to TVLine, series creator Bruno Heller would “neither confirm or deny” our story, but acknowledged that "The Mentalist" is heading into its “most dramatic and game changing season and anything can happen.”

As teased in last week’s Ask Ausiello, two new series regulars — one male and one female — will be introduced in early ’14, presumably to fill the eventual void left by Righetti and Yeoman.

http://tvline.com/2013/08/06/amanda-righetti-owain-yeoman-leaving-the-mentalist-season-6/

Well this sucks. I'm glad the Red john storyline is ending but i don't like losing cast members. It's probably the shows last season anyway.

"The Mentalist's" Amanda Righetti Confirms Exit, Teases 'Surprise' Send-Off for Van Pelt
by Michael Ausiello
11/22/13


With her departure from "The Mentalist" on the horizon, Amanda Righetti is finding comfort in a familiar refrain: change is good.

Speaking out for the first time about her spring exit, the actress concedes, “I feel like the time is probably right,” adding, “It’s the end of one thing but the beginning of something new.”





Righetti, who is leaving alongside leading man Owain Yeoman, admits that she’s still in the dark about how exactly Van Pelt and Rigsby will be written out of the CBS drama.

“It keeps changing,” she explains. “It’s been a little bit of a fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants season. I think it was sort of an unexpected turn for the writers too, to have the show kind of be reworked this season. So everybody’s kind of trying to figure it out. And they're probably keeping it close to the vest so it comes as a surprise to everyone that is watching.”





In the meantime, Righetti confirms that Van Pelt and Rigsby will play a role in the show’s post-Red John era, which kicks off in the Dec. 1 episode (following a two-year time jump).

“Basically, they have their own private security company,” she reveals. “So we sort of are outsourced and freelanced with the FBI, and that’s how we fit in.”

http://tvline.com/2013/11/22/amanda-righetti-leaving-the-mentalist-why-van-pelt-exit/

the way they were talking about it, i thought that they were going to actually kill them off - and that would be the focus of the new direction