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The reason behind George Eads’ MacGyver exit

His exit is finally being addressed on the show

george eads
Eve Crosbie
TV & Film Writer
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The question of what happened to Jack Dalton has been on the minds of MacGyver fans ever since George Eads made his final appearance on the show back in season three.

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Now it seems viewers may finally get an answer as the hit US series revisited Jack's storyline in a new episode of the hit series that aired on Friday, explaining where the character has been all this time.

But why did George Eads leave the show back in 2019? Get the details here...

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According to The Hollywood Reporter, George was let out of his contract early following some drama on set. The actor reportedly walked off set during filming for season three despite having several hours of production remaining for the day. It’s not known what led to the actor’s outburst, but sources say the actor had already been thinking about leaving and had said as much to showrunner Peter Lenkov.

Other reports cited that the actor wanted to leave to be closer to his daughter. While MacGyver is filmed in Atlanta on the East coast, George’s family - including his young daughter - are based in Los Angeles. 

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The actor has spoken candidly about how his MacGyver co-stars have helped him through tough days on set in the past. He revealed to CBS: “There’s been times when I’ve been missing my daughter so bad that I’ll be in an emotional state, and Lucas [Till] will hold up production until we can talk it out and maybe even cry it out in the trailer. I confide in him as a close friend, and I think he’s done the same for me.”

george eads macgyver© Photo: Getty Images

He has also opened up about how his relationship with his daughter affected his portrayal of Jack on the show. “I’ve been watching, studying, and kind of seeing how I can make Jack evolve [...] I’ve got a three-year-old little girl, that changes you as a man.”

MacGyver isn’t the only show George has dramatically exited. Back in 2015 he left CSI: Crime Scene Investigation after 15 seasons on the show. According to Cinema Blend, he got into an argument on set with a writer over how his character Nick Stokes was written. He missed several episodes before returning to film his final episodes for the CBS procedural drama.

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