Why did Skeet Ulrich leave Riverdale? (Here’s why FP left and didn’t come back)

Us fans of Riverdale loved the and rooted for the teens of the show! They were the focus of the story and why we tuned in to the new episodes all the time. But, the series was also good at creating some intriguing characters out of their parents. From the late Luke Perry as Fred Andrews, Mädchen Amick as Alice Cooper, and even the villainous Mark Consuelos as Hiram Lodge. One big fan-favorite (and my personal fave!) was Skeet Ulrich as FP Jones.

The actor decided to leave the series after season 5. The last time we saw Ulrich and his character was in season 5 episode 3, “Chapter Seventy-Nine: Graduation.” After finding out Jellybean is The Auteur, FP decides to be a more present and stable parent for his daughter. The two move to Toledo where Jughead and Jellybean’s mother Gladys lives. And that’s how we get the character’s send-off!

So why did Ulrich decide to leave the show? Well, as fans we can appreciate his honesty. Simply put, Skeet Ulrich “got bored creatively” from Riverdale, which is why he left the series. The talent shared that he was ready to say goodbye to the former Southside Serpent leader he’d been portraying since the very first season in an Instagram Live video back in May 2020. Here’s what he said in the live broadcast, per Variety:

"I’m leaving Riverdale because I got bored creatively. How’s that? That’s the most honest answer."

I will say overall, Riverdale lost me in the later seasons. The first three-ish were great, but then the story started to fall off. And I’d say in terms of FP’s storylines specifically, the first two seasons were the most interesting. So I’ll be honest, I wasn’t surprised when news came out that Ulrich was ready to move on.

It can be difficult when an actor is on a show for so long, and it feels like they’re just doing the same thing. Whether their character’s arcs come to a natural end, that particular character has achieved everything it could, or sometimes the story just goes in directions that aren’t interesting anymore. There’s many factors that can lead to an actor starting to get “bored” from a project. This is unfortunate as a fan, but it does make sense from an actor’s point of view. I think we can definitely understand it.

Being in a creative field is a beautiful thing, but it can also be a double-edged sword. At first the new ideas introduced to you are aspects you want to explore, but eventually there’s so many other things out there that are intriguing and pique your creative interest. And that’s not a bad thing! Though when a project does run for a long time, it can be a bit difficult to keep an actor interested. And it seems like that’s exactly what happened with Ulrich.

In February 2020, that’s when the news came that both Ulrich and Marisol Nichols (Hermoine Lodge) would be exiting Riverdale season 5 as series regulars. At that time, creator and showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa released a statement, per Variety:

"Part of life in Riverdale — and part of growing up — is saying goodbye to people. I’m grateful to Skeet and Marisol for their incredible work on the show these last four years, and we all wish them well on their future endeavors. FP and Hermione will never be far from our hearts. And, of course, they’re always welcome back in Riverdale."

While Marisol did pop back in at times and returned, Ulrich seemed to not be interested. And that’s ok! Would it have been nice to see him again? Of course! I love the growth the father-son relationship between FP and Jughead grew into something so meaningful and touching. Plus all of us Alice and FP fans always swooned when they were together onscreen!

But, that was the actor’s wishes, and we have to respect that. At times when a talent leaves the show, they move on and don’t really want to look back. Of course Ulrich never said this, but it is more common than you’d think. At least we can be rest assured that there will always be those wonderful FP moments that we can go back and rewatch on Netflix!

All seven seasons of Riverdale are streaming on Netflix.