Game of Thrones: Actor admits she would have 'loved' to stay on show after being killed off

Diana Rigg plays Olenna Tyrell in the HBO show

Actor Diana Rigg has revealed she would have “loved” to stay on Game of Thrones longer, after her character was killed off in series seven.

Rigg played Olenna Tyrell between 2013 and 2017, beginning in series three.

The beloved character died in the third episode of the seventh series, after drinking a cup of poisoned wine.

Many fans mourned her disappearance – and Rigg herself wished she didn’t have to say goodbye to Tyrell so soon.

“It wasn’t my decision to have Lady Olenna killed off in Game of Thrones,” the actor told The Guardian. “I’d love to have stayed on.”

She then referred to Tywin Lannister, the character played by Charles Dance, who gets killed by his son Tyrion in the fourth series.

“Thank God I didn’t die on a toilet like Charles Dance’s character,” Rigg added.

The eighth and final series of Game of Thrones is set to premiere on 14 April.