Connie Britton has been reflecting on her departure from Nashville season 5 after her character, Rayna Jaymes, was tragically killed off.  

It may feel like a huge loss for fans of the show, but Britton is content with her departure, revealing to The Hollywood Reporter that she had wanted it for some time. 

In fact, leaving the show was her own decision, she reveals, and the smooth transition of the show over to CMT reassured her that it was the right time to move on after four and a half seasons. 

"It was my decision. It was something that, for various reasons, had been percolating for me. What was really important to me was that it felt like the right time. This summer, when the show went to CMT, it felt solid and stable. When Marshall came in, we had a conversation and he came up with the way this story would lay out," she said.

However, she's not leaving because of any bad feeling. Quite the opposite, as she said that her last day on set was really emotional because she loved being a part of it so much.

"It was incredibly emotional. It was very difficult for me and it still is. It's hard for me to talk about without getting a little choked up because I love this character so much and the people I've been fortunate to act with for the last five years and our crew. This has become an essential part of my life," she said.

Executive Producer Marshall Herskovitz has been reflecting on the tragic circumstances in which Rayna was killed off from the hit show last Thursday. 

He reveals to TV Line that although technically, the crash killed Rayna, really it was all the turmoil going on inside of her that killed her.  

She would never have driven off in the police car like a maniac and collided with the truck had it not been for the secret trauma she was carrying around inside that resonated so much with her stalker and attacker.  

"This man was drawn to Rayna in some way unconsciously because of her trauma," he said.

It was, Herskovitz explained, a case of the ghosts of her traumatic childhood coming back to haunt her.

"Some way, karmically, the horrible things that were done to her as a child came back and destroyed her," he said.

"Nashville" airs on CMT every Thursday at 9 p.m. ET on CMT and there's a good chance fans will see more about the girls Rayna has left behind in future episodes and seasons.