Jesse Metcalfe Says He Was 'Fired' from “Desperate Housewives” After Season 1, Had Shirtless Body 'Picked Apart' by Viewers
Jesse Metcalfe Says He Was 'Fired' from “Desperate Housewives” After Season 1, Had Shirtless Body 'Picked Apart' by Viewers
Virginia ChamleeTue, March 17, 2026 at 7:19 PM UTC
0
Jesse MetcalfeCredit: Jesse Grant/Variety via Getty; Ron Tom/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty -
Jesse Metcalfe is opening up about being "fired" as a series regular on Desperate Housewives after the show's first season
In a new interview, he says the show's creator told him his character would only be coming back "intermittently"
At the time, Metcalfe's career was taking off, so he says he "took it in stride"
Jesse Metcalfe says he was fired after one season on Desperate Housewives.
Metcalfe, 47, starred in the ABC drama as teen gardener John Rowland, who has an affair with Eva Longoria’s rich housewife character. He opened up about leaving the show in an interview on the Not Skinny But Not Fat podcast.
"I was fired from Desperate Housewives," Metcalfe said. "After the first season, they didn't really know where else to take my storyline."
— sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Jesse Metcalfe on Desperate HousewivesCredit: ABC
He continued: "And our creator Marc Cherry was kinda like, 'Hey, this isn't Desperate House-gardeners. This is Desperate Housewives. So, unfortunately, you know, you're not gonna be a series regular moving forward on the show. We're gonna bring you back intermittently."
"And at that time, I had been offered [2006 film] John Tucker Must Die from 20th Century Fox. So I was like, 'Hey, cool, no big deal, I'm gonna be a movie star,'" he added.
Advertisement
The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!
He continued: "I did come back intermittently but I wasn't hit super hard... I took it in stride, because I thought, 'This is only the beginning.' "
In a 2021 interview with Vice's i-D Magazine, Metcalfe spoke about the "pressure" his role on Desperate Housewives created — particularly as it often required he have his shirt off.
"Being a sex symbol is very much about the roles that you play and my roles put me up on a pedestal," he said. "But my appearance was also criticized and picked apart by a lot of people in the media. Having your shirt off in every episode of Housewives brought a lot of pressure."
Metcalfe continued, "You have to stay in the best shape you can and then between projects, everyone expects you to stay in that shape 24/7, 365. That's not realistic. That's why paparazzi catch actors between projects looking 'out of shape' — they're taking time off and that includes the gym."
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
