The decision to cut the two actors has been "the original plan going into the development of the show," executive producer Todd Slavkin tells EW. "We felt that once the murder mystery [involving their characters] was resolved, the tone of the show was going to shift and [Ashlee's] character would move on." What's Ash think of all this? "Having the chance to play Violet on Melrose Place has been a thrill," she says in a statement. "Although I always knew her story would come to a final, insanely unpredictable end, playing a creepy, unstable character was something I always wanted to do, so I jumped at the chance." Colin was more forthcoming with his disappointment: "I've had better days, to be quite honest," he tells E! "They said it was a network decision, and they said the network thought Auggie was a little too dark, with his alcoholism. They felt like in the landscape of Melrose they wanted to change the tone of the show." Now that Heather Locklear is set to appear in every episode in the near future, she'll have to make up for the lack of creepy behavior from Ash and Colin! What do you think of their departure?