Here's why Gita is leaving the Laan

Johannesburg - It's not even been a month since 7de Laan's sweetheart Diaan Lawrenson, who plays the fun-loving Paula, announced she's resigned as full-time actress at Danie Odendaal Productions to move to Cape Town with her family and take up a lecturing post at AFDA... and now comes word of another resignation at 7de Laan: Jo da Silva who plays wicked Gita is also leaving the SABC soapie.

In a press statement released by Danie Odendaal Productions on Monday, Jo said the reasons for her decision to leave the soapie is so that she could spend more time with her daughter, who’s currently studying in Cape Town. And while in Cape Town, Jo plans to pursue other interests and do some freelance work.

The soapie’s publicist, Rosa-Mari Erasmus, says: "Jo will be with the soapie up until the end of May and viewers will still see her until the beginning of August on TV." It’s not yet known how evil Gita will leave Hillside.

The shock news comes less than a month after another lead actress Diaan Lawrenson, known for her role as bubbly Paula, announced her departure from the soap.

There’s some good news though: just like Diaan, Jo plans to also come back for smaller storyline arcs in the upcoming Series 18, which starts filming in August this year. Which means we’ll still see the two characters on 7de Laan, but in a much smaller capacity.