Meghan Markle Leaving ‘Suits’ After Season 7

Meghan Markle Leaving ‘Suits’ After Season 7

Ashley Bissette Sumerel News, Suits

It’s official, Suits fans. Meghan Markle, who plays the beloved Rachel Zane, will be exiting the series at the end of Season 7. USA announced her departure, which comes just shortly after the news of Markle’s engagement to Prince Harry.

USA Network and Universal Cable Productions, which co-produce Suits, issued the following statement:

“From all of us at USA Network and Universal Cable Productions, we want to send our most heartfelt congratulations to Meghan Markle and Prince Harry on their engagement. Meghan has been a member of our family for seven years and it has been a joy to work with her. We want to thank her for her undeniable passion and dedication to Suits, and we wish her the very best.”

SUITS -- "Shame" Episode 709 -- Pictured: Meghan Markle as Rachel Zane -- (Photo by: Ian Watson/USA Network)
SUITS — “Shame” Episode 709 — Pictured: Meghan Markle as Rachel Zane — (Photo by: Ian Watson/USA Network)

Markle also confirmed her decision to retire from acting in an interview, and said that she’s looking forward to the new causes that she can “focus even more energy on.”

“I see it is a new change, a new chapter,” she added. “I’ve been working on my show seven years, we were so fortunate to have that longevity, and I feel like I checked that box and am very proud of the work I’ve done there.”

Meghan Markle Leaving ‘Suits’ After Season 7
SUITS — “Admission of Guilt” Episode 614 — Pictured: (l-r) Amanda Schull as Katrina Bennett, Meghan Markle as Rachel Zane — (Photo by: Shane Mahood/USA Network)

This summer at the ATX Television Festival, Suits celebrated its milestone 100th episode with a special script reading. At that reading, Markle recalled her audition scene as well as memorable moments throughout the series.

Suits returns for the second half of Season 7 in 2018 to USA.

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Ashley Bissette Sumerel is a television and film critic living in Wilmington, North Carolina. She is editor-in-chief of Tell-Tale TV as well as Eulalie Magazine. Ashley has also written for outlets such as Rolling Stone, Paste Magazine, and Insider. Ashley has been a member of the Critics Choice Association since 2017 and is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic. In addition to her work as an editor and critic, Ashley teaches Entertainment Journalism, Composition, and Literature at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.