Adam Brody has admitted that he stayed on The OC until the end because quitting “didn’t seem like an option”.

The Fleishman is in Trouble star rose to fame as Seth Cohen on the Fox teen drama, which aired for four seasons from 2003 to 2007.

The show was initially well received, but the critical reception grew more negative as the seasons went on. Many fans also argued that the show had gone downhill following the departure of Mischa Barton at the end of season three.

In a new interview with The Independent, Brody was asked if he’d considered leaving the show before it finished too.

“No, it didn’t seem like an option or the honourable thing to do,” he said. “I didn’t want it to go on forever but I had a contract and I was gonna honour it. I wouldn’t totally screw over the fans either.

“Even if creatively I was done after a few years, I sort of did a bunch and felt like I got to explore everything I wanted to do with that character. But yeah I had some basic standards of professionalism.”

He continued: “In fairness, it was a different show at the end. The quality was not the same. And it’s nobody’s fault.”

Rachel Bilson and Adam Brody in ‘The OC’ (Fox)

The OC was cancelled in 2007 due to low ratings. Despite a campaign calling for it to be “saved” amassing 740,000 signatures, it did not go ahead with another season.

Last year, Barton, Tate Donovan and Melinda Clarke delighted fans of the show as they teamed up for a mini reunion.

“SO THIS HAPPENED! Cooper family reunion!” Clarke captioned a photo of the three. “Warmed my heart to see these two, @mischabarton and @t8dono, at @tripleellc in Charleston.”