Roger Howarth confirms 'General Hospital' exit

Nov. 20 (UPI) -- General Hospital veteran Roger Howarth confirmed that he has left the soap opera after playing several different characters on it since 2012.

"Three things that I know for sure...1 Daytime fans are lovely and amazing and supportive and dedicated and I am deeply grateful to each sparkly one of them," Howarth wrote on Instagram Monday.

"2 I enjoyed my time at General Hospital and wish the cast and crew the best and continued success. It was a pleasure working with you all. 3 Life is amazing. We just don't ever know what's gonna happen. How great! Turn toward the light. Always. Huge thank you to you all."

Over the years, Howarth has played Todd Manning, Franco Baldwin and Austin Gatlin-Holt.

Austin was shot and killed in Friday's episode of the daytime drama.

Howarth told Soap Opera Digest in an interview published Monday that he learned his character's fate several weeks ago when executive producer Frank Valentini told him ABC wouldn't be renewing his contract.

"It took me a minute to kind of adjust, to kind of hear the news; it took a second for me to let that settle in. And then, immediately, I realized how lucky I was to have been able to do something I really love doing for more than a decade with people who I really enjoyed working with," Howarth said.

"I had a great run and this was a decision made by people who make these kinds of decisions for a living."