Years after it happened, questions still swirl over why Oliver Hudson left Fox's The Cleaning Lady series.
Hudson played FBI agent Garrett Miller on the hit crime drama for two seasons before he was ultimately killed off in Season 2.
Since then, The Cleaning Lady has gone on to air for another two seasons (so far), with Season 4 dropping new episodes every Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET on Fox.
Where Did Oliver Hudson Go In The Cleaning Lady?
As The Cleaning Lady returns with its long-awaited Season 4, some still wonder what happened to Oliver Hudson, one of the show's early stars.
Hudson appeared in 22 episodes of the hit Fox drama, starring alongside its titular cleaning lady, Thony De La Rosa (Élodie Yung), in the show's first two seasons. Hudson played FBI agent Garrett Miller, a federal operative tasked with going after the American crime boss Arman Morales (Adan Canto).
To do this, Hudson's character went after Yung's Thony as she—an immigrant working in Las Vegas—was hired as a cleaner for Arman's criminal empire. Garrett and Thony developed a close working relationship over Seasons 1 and 2, as the cleaner began working as a secret FBI informant under Garrett's watch.
However, this storyline culminated in the Season 2 finale, where Thony was arrested thanks to her connections to the Morales crime family. While Garrett was working to free her, hopefully by way of her informant status, that, sadly, never came to pass.
Hudson's character instead was shot and killed during a shootout with Season 2's big bd Robert Kamdar, meaning he could not clear Thony's name, and thus, she was deported—as seen to start Season 3.
Garrett's on-screen death meant Hudson's time on the show ended. And, even though he was unable to prove Thony's innocence, his actions still caused Robert's death as well, as the Morales family offed their criminal collaborator so Nadia Morales, with whom Robert was married, could seize his assets.
Hudson's Garrett Miller was not the only series mainstay to leave after Season 2. The late actor Adan Canto (who played Arman Morales) tragically passed away between Seasons 2 and 3, and his character was not brought back for any future episodes.
What Was the Real-life Reason For Oliver Hudson Leaving The Cleaning Lady?
While The Cleaning Lady nicely put a bow on Garrett Miller's story in Season 2, the real reason for Oliver Miller leaving the hit series had something to do with something wholly outside of the show's ongoing narrative.
According to showrunner Melissa Carter, Hudson had to leave the series at some point because it was "right for the storytelling," despite it being an "incredibly hard decision," she told TVLine in December 2022:
"The difficult part was that it was right for the storytelling, but incredibly hard to kill one of our favorite actors on the show. Oliver is so giving, friendly, and beloved by the cast and crew [that] when the script went out, we had crew members begging us to write a different ending. But Oliver Hudson is a complete pro. When he signed on for this character, he knew that it might only be for a season or two."
She also revealed that it was initially the plan to kill his character "at the end of Season 1," but it was after the network "falling in love with [Hudson]" they "put this off as long as [they] could:
"He called me at the end of Season 1 and asked what was left for Garrett Miller to do now that his character and Thony essentially had gone through the cycle of being foes, then friends, and back again. So this is something that he was creatively prepared for, but it was still the toughest decision we had to make on the show. Long before any of the roles were cast, back when Miranda and I pitched the pilot to Fox, they suggested killing his character off at the end of Season 1. But after falling in love with Oliver, we put this off as long as we could."
Since his character's death, the series has continued without Hudson (and his Cleaning Lady character) for a season and a change. Its ongoing Season 4 airs new episodes weekly on Fox before streaming on Hulu.
The Garrett Miller actor has since appeared in And Just Like That (read more about the And Just Like That cast here) and Unprisoned. He is next set to appear in My Guide To Becoming a Rock Star and A Merry Little Ex-max, which are both due out later this year.
