'It felt like someone punched me in the guy,' she sighs. 'I'm absolutely sick about it. I love him so much. It makes me sad for Molly and, selfishly, really sad for Lesli. He's the best person for me to work with. He makes me like goingto work. He's my best friend there.'

 

'I told him it's like when someone dies,' she continues. 'That person is gone andthe people left behind have to go on. I guess [the writers and producers] have a plan and I hope it's the right one. I feel like there's going to be a lot of backlash. There area lot of Jake/Molly fans out there, but it's been apparent the last year that they don't know how to write or don't want to write for Jake and Molly.'

 

Kay allows, though, that the standard breaking-up-making-up wasn't an option. 'Jake and Molly have both had such tumutuous pasts, and then with everything that happened with Vicky, there's no way they would leave each other. There's no way they would cheat on each other. So this is the ultimate way of splitting them up.'

 

Kay adds that Eplin has been handling the news better than she has. 'He's not the unhappy about it. It's like a blessing. It's probably the bestthing for Tom. He's going to have a great life.  'However, says Kay, 'I can't work without crying. He's like, 'Be strong!'

 

While Kay hates losing her co-star, she promises he will be getting quite a send-off. 'If it were a movie , it would be a great ending,' she maintains. 'I think the fans are going to love it, and I know Tom's excited to play it. But it's not a movie. Daytime soaps go on - and I don't know what's instore for Molly.'