<http://schema.org/articleBody>
" House star Lisa Edelstein has announced that she will not be returning for the show&amp;#039;s upcoming eighth season. The actress, who plays Dr Gregory House&amp;#039;s on-off love interest Dr Lisa Cuddy, confirmed that she has declined to extend her contract due to a desire to pursue other opportunities. &amp;quot;After much consideration, I am moving onward with a combination of disappointment at leaving behind a character I have loved playing for seven years and excitement of the new opportunities in acting and producing that lie ahead,&amp;quot; Edelstein said in a statement. The 44-year-old later tweeted: &amp;quot;Twitter friends, I am reading all your kind thoughts and it feels great to have such support. You are the best!&amp;quot; The actress suggested in March that she was looking forward to returning for the new season along with the show&amp;#039;s other cast members. Following the news of Edelstein&amp;#039;s departure, as well as confirmation that Hugh Laurie, Olivia Wilde, Peter Jacobson, Robert Sean Leonard and Omar Epps have all signed new contracts, only Jesse Spencer&amp;#039;s status is unknown. Laurie recently suggested that the eighth season of House could also be its last.  House airs on Mondays at 8/7c on Fox in the US and on Thursdays at 10pm on Sky1 in the UK. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/house/news/a320080/lisa-edelstein-leaves-house/>