There’s no deficiency of interesting secondary characters in The Big Bang Theory, which bounced off Jim Parsons’ Sheldon extremely well, and many of them stuck around with the sitcom for a long run. However, this wasn’t the case for every one of them, as one such beloved character was written off early from the show, despite going toe to toe with the sitcom lead Sheldon Cooper.
While Sheldon is undoubtedly the smartest in the show, during the initial seasons, Sara Gilbert’s Leslie Winkle always had the upper hand on him, and fans couldn’t get enough of her.
Sara Gilbert’s Leslie Winkle Could’ve Given Sheldon Cooper a Run for His Money
Sara Gilbert as Leslie Winkle in The Big Bang Theory | CBS
Despite serving as a secondary figure, Sara Gilbert’s Leslie Winkle soon gathered a strong fan following, thanks to her witty one-liners. Moreover, she also shared many parallels with Sheldon and served as his nemesis during the early seasons. Unfortunately, despite being present to a great extent in seasons 1 and 2, her appearances were significantly cut in season 3 before getting completely cut from the sitcom after the season 3 finale.
Although she would make one last appearance in TBBT, it wasn’t until season 9 episode 17, The Celebration Experimentation. Considering her witty personality, accompanied by her brilliance as a physicist, who was one of the few characters that could give Sheldon a run for his money, Gilbert’s exit was hard on fans of the sitcom. While TBBT didn’t suffer greatly from her absence, fans agree that she should’ve stayed for the long run, and could’ve even competed with Jim Parsons‘ Sheldon for the Nobel Prize.
Jim Parsons in The Big Bang Theory | CBS
Reminiscing about her character, fans shared:
Leslie is my fav side character. Her ‘call me’ lives rent free in my brain.
I’ll forever stan her for when she said ‘There are no incorrect equations on my board’.
Leslie rocks, and the actress did such a good job!
I always thought Leslie and Kripkree would’ve made a hilarious couple.
Although the actress’ commitment to her daytime talk show, The Talk, most probably contributed to her exit from TBBT, this mightn’t be the lone reason behind Winkle’s departure.
The Big Bang Theory Showrunners Apparently Ran Out of Ideas for Leslie Winkle
A still from The Big Bang Theory | CBS
Even though the showrunners never officially commented on the beloved star’s early exit from The Big Bang Theory, according to reports, the writers ran out of ideas for her characters. According to Insiders, after the first two seasons, they struggled to incorporate Leslie into further storylines, which led to a reduction in her screen time. This reportedly contributed to the character’s eventual departure from the acclaimed sitcom.
Interestingly, Mayim Bialik‘s Amy was on the same boat, as the actress felt her character would be written off early, and was surprised when she was eventually offered to be a regular.
