Hilarie Burton, Chad Michael Murray were ‘betrayed’ for ‘OTH’ Season 7

Hilarie Burton Morgan dismissed a major misconception about how she and Chad Michael Murray left before the seventh season of One Tree Hill.

Hilarie, who was one of the leading stars on the show alongside Chad, got candid during the Drama Queens podcast and revealed how they unceremoniously found out they were not returning to the show, via Us Weekly.

She explained that “all of a sudden” their producer, Greg Prange, announced to everyone that the show had been picked up for a seventh season.

“Chad looks at me and he’s like, ‘Have you even gotten an offer? I was like, ‘No,’ and he’s like, ‘I haven’t gotten an offer,’” she recalled.

Hilarie noted to her cohosts and former costars Sophia Bush and Bethany Joy Lenz that this happened while they were filming a flashback scene in a diner with their respective characters, Peyton Sawyer and Lucas Scott, for season 6, episode 2.

“And so around us, everyone is hugging and high-fiving. I mean, it felt like balloons were dropping from the ceiling. Everybody was so f–king pumped. And he and I just kind of sat there and we knew it was coming.”

She added, “And he and I were the highest paid actors on the show, and we knew we were on the chopping block.”

However, Hilarie shared that the “betrayal” turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

“My life is awesome because of that betrayal,” she said. “I met my husband [Jeffrey Dean Morgan], I had my kids, I got to do White Collar with Willie Garson. My life is so much better because I was betrayed here.”