Series Regular Leaving 'New Girl' After This Season

"New Girl" is about to lose a major character after this season.

The show has confirmed that Damon Wayans Jr. will be leaving the Fox sitcom at the end of the show's current season. Wayans plays the role of "Coach."

This will actually be the second time that Wayans has left the show: Coach was Nick and Schmidt's roommate in the pilot episode of the series, but Wayans landed a role in "Happy Endings" and took it. He was replaced as a series regular by Lamorne Morris, who came on as Winston.

However, once "Happy Endings" was canceled, Wayans started playing Coach again as a recurring guest star before being promoted to series regular in season four.

"We love Damon and are so lucky to have had him return for the past season-and-a-half," said Liz Meriweather, the show's EP and creator. "We are working on crafting an exit for him that will leave the door open for many more returns, especially since Coach is our resolution to the upcoming ‘Who's Jess' Baby Daddy?' storyline."

That last part was a joke, by the way...although Zooey Deschanel is pregnant, her character Jess will not be pregnant on the show.

The reason for Wayans' departure isn't completely clear yet, but we have to assume he's been cast in another series that will be picked up soon. Wayans' recent credits are mostly feature films, including the comedy "Let's Be Cops" and a voice role in "Big Hero 6."