Network and cable shows are prone to mysteriously writing out fan-favorite characters, but in the case of Pretty Little Liars’ Paige McCullers, it was due to Lindsey Shaw being fired from the series for an addiction to Adderall, per the actress. As she recently recalled, her absence from the series between Season 5 and 7 was the result of a “cycle” with the drug abuse that she’s grateful to say she has since gotten past.
Shaw spoke of her experience getting let go from one of TV’s awesome whodunnit shows while hosting the Ned’s Declassified Podcast Survival Guide. While speaking candidly with her former Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide castmates, she said the following:
When I had my drug problem and I was in between working on stuff, I would never have to address my relationship with food because I was always like ‘Oh I could always get more Adderall.’ You know what I mean? I got basically let go from Pretty Little Liars in Season 5 because of the weight I had lost. It was really an embarrassing thing.
Shaw apparently was struggling with body dysmorphia and drug abuse while working on Pretty Little Liars, and the showrunners took notice. Per the Addiction Center, people with body dysmorphia are at a higher risk of of developing substance abuse disorder, with researchers finding that 68% of subjects suffering from addiction reported that body dysmorphia contributed to their dependency.
As the actress recalled, she’d look to Adderall to maintain a weight she was comfortable with, but “looked too skinny.” When she was off the stimulant, she couldn’t handle being “too heavy,” and it kept her using. Shaw continued:
I got called into the Pretty Little Liars’ creator’s office, and she was just like, ‘So, we’re gonna let you go.’ She’s like ‘It’s not because of your acting.’ She’s like ‘Do you have anyone to talk to?’ And I was like ‘Um… no.’ And she’s like ‘Well, find somebody and we have to let you go for now.’
Shaw broke down in tears as she told the story, recalling that she found the moment “really sweet” because the showrunners would go on to bring her character back for the seventh and final season, and therein allow Paige to get a sendoff ahead of the Pretty Little Liars finale back in 2017. Shaw continued to reflect on the time in her life, saying this:
I just gave away everything I cared about. I don’t know that I’ve ever gotten back to the point in my career that I was before that talk, that meeting, or that whole season of using. It’s a fucking lot, dude. Caring about your body can make you go in all different directions, from plastic surgery to drugs to withholding, to any kind of shit.
Shaw spoke of how the pressures to compare her body to others contributed to her struggles with drug abuse, specifically Adderall, which can cause weight loss and suppress one’s appetite. While stepping away from the series in 2015 couldn’t have been easy, Shaw looks back at it with appreciation, saying the show did her “so right” for bringing her back and allowing her to say goodbye.
Currently, Lindsey Shaw has overcome her addiction and regularly hosts the Ned’s Declassified Podcast Survival Guide with Devon Werkheiser and Daniel Curtis Lee. She also has some upcoming work in Hollywood under her belt. On the Pretty Little Liars front, all seven seasons are now streaming with an HBO Max subscription, along with the much-different spinoff, Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin. A second season of that show on the way following Season 1’s 2022 premiere.