Why Did Josh Stewart Leave the Popular CBS Drama 'Criminal Minds: Evolution'?

Fans are wiping their eyes after watching the latest episode of Criminal Minds: Evolution. The latest episode featured the funeral of Det. William LaMontagne Jr., who was played by actor Josh Stewart.

Josh's character was killed off in the previous episode. The detective was married to JJ (played by series regular A.J. Cook).

William died after a thyroid artery rupture caused an aneurysm. The character had been on the show since Season 2 of the original Criminal Minds, and now, fans are wondering why Josh's character was killed off.

So, why did Josh Stewart leave Criminal Minds: Evolution? Well, the short answer is that he was killed off by the showrunners. However, Josh reportedly decided to exit the show, possibly due to other projects. He is currently starring in the sci-fi thriller, LIFELINE.

Josh announced his exit from the series on X (formerly Twitter) in 2024 while responding to a fan asking if he was returning for the next season. He had played the detective since the second season of the original Criminal Minds.

"No, sadly, my days of playing Will LaMontagne Jr. are over," he wrote."You guys have been the absolute best."

A.J. told Entertainment Weekly that the crew was surprised to learn of her television husband's fate.

“We've known each other forever," she said. "We've done movies together. He and my husband are friends. He is so missed. But again, the show has to go on. We just had to do it."

"It took all of us by surprise when we found out that he wasn't going to be coming back," she added. "It took a while for us to process that and to figure out what was next. I think if we were still on CBS with our original format, we wouldn't have taken this route because we've gone seasons without seeing him."

She also noted that the new show was streaming on Paramount+, which is an extension of CBS.

"It was more procedural back then. But with this new format, a huge part of the show is the personal lives of these characters that we love so much. After much deliberation, we do what we always do on this show — we write to life. You don't get to choose when someone dies. Life happens, and it blindsides you. And I think that's why this hurts so badly. We were all so against it, but we didn’t have a say."

According to showrunner Erica Messer, Will’s cancer scare last season was inspired by Nathan Andersen, A.J.'s husband in real life. Messer told TVLine that Nathan was diagnosed with cancer in 2019. He is now cancer-free.

“It’s based on a true-life illness that we wanted to honor,” said Messer in 2024. “We wanted to plant that seed now.”

“Hopefully, he’s going to be OK,”she added. “But he’s not necessarily out of the woods forever.”