Why Hilarie Burton Won’t be Returning to the One Tree Hill Finale

There are plenty of One Tree Hill fans that love Hilarie Burton and her OTH character of Peyton Sawyer. In a recent White Collar interview, Burton addressed the question about her returning to One Tree Hill for a finale. Unfortunately, it won’t be happening.

“Oh, man. I have such a fondness for that period in my life and I love all the people there, unfortunately it gets to a point where your personal life doesn’t necessarily allow a whole lot of room anymore for just jumping on a plane and going wherever. So while that’s a place that I love and it’s an experience in my life that I really love, I don’t think that it’s going to work out.” Burton continued that she’s still part of that world a little. “I still communicate with everybody back there. And I love them as a whole, but no I don’t think it’s going to work out. I’m sorry.”

Expanding on some of the reasons why a return isn’t feasible anymore, Burton talked about how she’s trying to take new career steps while balancing her new family life. “I am going through a growing phase in my life. I went through one when I first went down to North Carolina, I went through one a couple of years before my run on One Tree Hill ended, and I’m going through one now where I’m starting to look at what do I want out of the next five years of my life? I think I’m really, really happy with my personal life, that—everything there is sewn up and I’m very happy in that.

“So now, you know I’ve got a job that works perfect with my personal life. It’s in a place that I love and it’s with people that I really, really like. And so I’m going to ride this train as long as I can.”