Mortensen was blindsided by the decision. She had filmed her final scene on a Monday without realizing it was her last day on set, only to receive the termination call on Tuesday.

She wrote an emotional, agonizing letter to the crew and cast members. In October 2022, she publicly shared this letter on Instagram, outlining the deep betrayal and sorrow she felt.

The decision to abruptly replace a beloved actress caused a massive backlash among viewers and cast members alike, who heavily rallied to support Mortensen.

Rather than accommodating her schedule, the producers opted to fire her on the spot over the phone.

In 2019, Mortensen landed the lead role of Astrid Nielsen, a brilliant autistic criminologist, in the pilot of the crime drama Astrid et Raphaëlle ( Astrid: Murder in Paris ). Recognizing the scheduling conflict, she approached the producers of Plus belle la vie to request a temporary leave of absence to film the new show.

Mortensen expressed severe pain over not being able to say goodbye to the crew, technical teams, and co-stars she worked with daily for nearly a decade.

For seven years, Sara Mortensen played the iconic character of (infamously nicknamed "Terminator" by students due to her severe teaching methods) on France 3’s massively popular daily soap opera Plus belle la vie .

The production team claimed that managing her heavily divided schedule was no longer feasible.