As most Melrose Place fans know by now, Colin Egglesfield and Ashlee Simpson-Wentz have been let go. They'll exit the series in January.

Fan reaction to this news seems to be mixed. As for the actors' co-stars?

"[Colin is] one of my best friends so I'm extremely sad to see him go," Stephanie Jacobsen, who plays Lauren Yung, told E! News. "But he's a trouper... He was consoling me today. He said, 'Steph, it's just the business.'"

Jacobsen added that the "cast is very close," and that didn't change with the addition of Heather Locklear.

"She's incredibly easy to talk to. You wouldn't imagine it because she's 'Heather Locklear'—I mean, she's kind of a big deal - but yet she's one of the loveliest people and so laid back."

Locklear debuts (again) on Melrose Place on November 17.

Matt Richenthal is the Editor in Chief of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter and on Google+.