The Walking Dead boss finally breaks silence on ‘incredibly heavy’ reason the show was axed after 10 years

THE Walking dead sent shockwaves through its fanbase when it announced its cancellation last month.

AMC revealed that the beloved show would end with a supersized 24-episode series to be aired over the span of the next two years - with 12 in 2021, and the rest in 2022.

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It isn't all doom and gloom though, as the broadcaster confirmed that the saga will continue in the form of two new shows.

One focuses on the characters Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) and Carol Peletier (Melissa McBride), both long-serving characters beloved by fans.

The second, Tales of the Walking Dead, is an anthology series that the network said may or may not shed new light on the backstories of familiar characters.

This is on top of the likes of Fear The Walking Dead and the upcoming The Walking Dead: World Beyond.

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Now former showunner Scott Gimple has given his take on the main show's cancellation.

Gimple broke into TV as the creator of animated series Fillmore!, but has spent most of the last decade as a key writer and producer for the flagship zombie series.

He said of the news: “This came out of conversations with AMC and ultimately they made this call, obviously. And so [current showrunner] Angela Kang and I, thinking about it was … I don't know, it's incredibly heavy.”

He continued to the Hollywood Reporter: “I mean, even though, like you said, we have all these Walking Dead things ahead.

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“Even with so many of the people that we work with, and in fact I'm hoping it's with most of the people in one direction or another with Tales, Daryl and Carol, other stuff. I don't know, it's still incredibly heavy.”

Reflecting on his stint at the head of the show, Gimple expressed some sadness about how quickly the time passed.

“I think the thing that's most weird about it is how quick it all went. It doesn't feel like 10 years. It doesn't feel like 11 years,” he continued.

“And so I loved doing it. I'm talking about when I was a showrunner; I loved doing that so much. It was so intense.”

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He signed off: “And I don't know … it all went by too fast. I mean, that's how I feel. It all went by way, way, way too fast.”

The Walking Dead's cancellation isn't the first time AMC has had a bombshell dropped on them with minimal notice.

When Kirkman brought his comics to an end last year, Showrunner Angela Kang confessed she hadn't been given a heads up before the announcement.

The Walking Dead's extended season 10 episodes are expected to drop on AMC next year.