'The Walking Dead' went through one of its biggest changes to-date during the midseason finale of season 8, with one leading character clearly written out of the future of the show because of a zombie bite to their abdomen. It was a move that nobody saw coming and a clear deviation from the path of the comic book series, in which the character still exists to this day.

Andrew Lincoln takes on the lead role of Rick Grimes in 'The Walking Dead'Andrew Lincoln takes on the lead role of Rick Grimes in 'The Walking Dead'

The character we're talking about is Carl Grimes, played in the series since the very start by young actor Chandler Riggs who, in June of this year celebrated his 18th birthday. Carl has never been a fan-favourite character who appeals to the masses in the show, but viewers were beginning to think he may one day take over as leader of the survivors in the series, placing their bets on Andrew Lincoln's character and Carl's father Rick dying, rather than his son.

With Carl's days numbered and the rabbit out of the hat, new information is beginning to find its way onto the web and beyond, and now Riggs' real-life father has spoken out about the move made to take Carl out of the show.

Chandler Riggs as Carl Grimes in the fourth season of 'The Walking Dead'Chandler Riggs as Carl Grimes in the fourth season of 'The Walking Dead'

Replying to a fan on Facebook in a now-deleted post, Riggs' father wrote: ""Watching [showrunner Scott] Gimple fire my son 2 weeks before his 18th birthday after telling him they wanted him for the next 3 years was disappointing. I never trusted Gimple or AMC but Chandler did. I know how much it hurt him. But we do absolutely know how lucky we have been to be a part of it all and appreciate all the love from fans all these years!" You can see a screenshot of the original post in the Twitter post below:

Unconfirmed rumours and reports in the past saw Riggs and his family accused of being difficult behind-the-scenes, threatening to leave the show on multiple occasions in a series of acts that may have led to the decision to "fire" Chandler from the show, but nothing in regards to any of that was ever fully confirmed. It's just as likely that those reports were dreamt up by fans with big imaginations.

Whatever the case may have been, Carl is 100% leaving AMC series 'The Walking Dead', which is going to be very interesting to watch go down. We know his father Rick has allowed his mind to go to some very dark places in the past, and the loss of his son may be another catalyst for that, which is good for nobody; especially those he's tasked himself with protecting.

More: 'The Walking Dead' Changes Forever With Zombie Bite In Season 8's Midseason Finale

'The Walking Dead' season 8 is set to return in February, 2018.