"ER" star Alex Kingston said Friday she's leaving the hit show because her character's story lines have come to a natural end, not because the producers think she's too old.
Radio Times magazine quoted the British actress earlier this month as saying the long-running medical drama was increasingly focused on young characters, "and apparently I, according to the producers and the writers, am part of the old fogeys who are no longer interesting."
But she told British Broadcasting Corp. television that her comments were taken out of context, and that she was leaving "ER" by mutual agreement.
"There is absolutely no bitterness to my leaving, seriously. And unfortunately I think the press have been misinformed and misinformed the public," she said. "I'm leaving because my contract has come to its natural end."