AceShowbiz - Actor Balthazar Getty has followed in Rob Lowe's footsteps by quitting hit show "Brothers & Sisters", according to U.S. reports. Lowe bid farewell to his TV family earlier this year and now Getty has also decided to leave the series ahead of the upcoming fifth season, according to EW.com.

Sources tell the website the star's departure was a "creative decision" and the absence of his character, Tommy, will be explained in the premiere episode, which airs in the U.S. next month.

Tommy has once been left out from the show due to creative reason as well. In the fourth season, Tommy leaves Los Angeles to hide in Mexico where his family went to find him. "Balthazar is taking time off from the show right now because we felt that character was really on a downward spiral and you see him really go on it," exec producer Alison Schapker said back then.