It wasn’t necessarily explained. Hilarie Burton is currently working on another project, a wonderful show called “White Collar”. Mel and I support her every move and every decision and fully believe that she would have come back if she was invited and if she wasn’t invested in this new part of her life. She also has a child, a gorgeous little guy, who I’m sure is a huge part of her life. On the show it was never said where they are, where they’ve been, or why Peyton and Sawyer weren’t with him but outside of the show we only know that Hilarie would have done all she could to stay a part of this show and whether it was the network or other factors - it just didn’t happen. We adore her, we would have loved so much more Peyton, but there are no hard feelings and we will continue to support her at every point of her acting career! :)xo
♥ L