'Glee' SPOILERS: Key Cast Members Will Depart In Season 3

Glee may be responsible for making superstars of cast members Lea Michele and Cory Monteith, but creator Ryan Murphy has recently revealed that's as far as it goes. The actors who played high school seniors on the show last season are about to "graduate" in real life as well as on TV. In an effort to be true to reality, Murphy has decided those characters should be written off the show for good.

Murphy confirmed the rumors this weekend. "That is true. I don't think of it in terms of eliminating or replacing. Because I think the thing about this cast is people love them and they are incredibly talented," he told Ryan Seacrest in his radio show. "They've left sort of an indelible mark."

Many have suggested that losing so many show-stopping talents, whom the viewers have grown to love, will jeopardize Glee's loyal following, but Murphy thinks it will actually strengthen the show by anchoring it in reality. "The thing that I wanted to do and the cast wanted to do, we didn't want to have a show where they were in high school for eight years. We really wanted it to be true to that experience. We thought it would be really cool if we were true to the timeline."

Murphy intends for newer faces such as Darren Criss and Chord Overstreet to become the focus of the show. Plus, Glee will overlap with reality television in an innovative way by eventually giving the winner of Oxygen's new series, The Glee Project, a seven-episode stint on the show. This will give fresh talent a chance to wow the captive Glee audience.

Besides, not everyone is leaving, Murphy points out. "We've got Matt Morrison and Jane Lynch who will stay and be the male and female lynchpins of the series. But I think the fun thing about the show is it's a celebration of youth and talent and I think that, just like with the original cast, I think finding those young, unknown people and giving them an opportunity to break into the business and become stars is a really fun and exciting thing, and is the spirit of the series."