Sam Heughan devastated fans today after revealing that his film Everest, alongside Ewan McGregor and Mark Strong, has been delayed.
Sam, originally from Dumfries, is best known for his role as Jamie Fraser in the TV adaptation of Diana Gabaldon's historical fantasy series Outlander.
During an interview with Zoe Ball on BBC Radio 2 on Tuesday morning, Sam, 41, crushed the hearts of fans everywhere after revealing the Everest film isn't happening - at the moment.
The Scots actor was meant to be shooting for Doug Liman’s movie Everest in the UK and Italy from January this year, however he was in New Zealand for Men In Kilts and Ewan McGregor was on the set of Raymond and Ray.
He told her: "So it just hit me where it hurts. We were supposed to be shooting this fantastic movie about Everest. Yeah, unfortunately, it's not happening at the moment.
"But who knows in the future it might. It's just schedules. No, that's fine. I'll just go and jump off a cliff right now, a very high Everest cliff."
The movie, written by Sheldon Turner, whose credits include Up In The Air, was inspired by Jeffrey Archer novel Paths Of Glory and in 2011, had Tom Hardy was attached to it.
McGregor takes the lead of George Mallory, who took part in the first three British expeditions to Mount Everest, beginning in 1921.
Sam Heughan steps in as the eccentric Australian climber George Finch, who will be rushing against McGregor's Mallory to reach the top of Mount Everest first.
Mark Strong is set to take on the role of Arthur Hinks, a member of the Royal Geographic Society who hand-picked Mallory to make the dangerous yet important trek to the top of the world.
The production lost its female lead Juno Temple, who was said to have temporarily shelved the project, and according to sources in Production Weekly filming should have begun in September.
Fans were absolutely gutted after hearing the bad news about the production delays and took to social media.
One hopeful fan wrote: "I just listened! So sad about Everest not filming now, guessing it’s due to actor scheduling delays/conflicts. I wonder when they start filming Outlander Season 7 as Caitriona had stated soon on the Steven Colbert show. Hopefully #TextForYou will be released soon!"
"It's always a pleasure listening to your interviews. I’m sorry for your luggage and Really Sorry for Everest... Hope it's just a delay," wrote another.
Another fan tweeted: "I stumbled across this announcement; glad I was able to tune in. Hope your Audiobook wins. Hope Text4You released soon. Fingers crossed for EVEREST. Love OUTLANDER. love you Sam xx"
One penned: "@SamHeughan Just listened to your Zoe Ball interview, excellent as always but disappointed to hear Everest has been put on the back burner….that role was a custom fit for you, hopefully it will be produced in the near future."
"Hope you'll be able to 'climb' Everest sometime later in the year. Seems like such a great project. Much looking forward to S6 of #Outlander," wrote another.
Disappointed fans won't have long to wait to see Sam Heughan back on their screens with only two weeks to wait until Droughtlander is over.
The Outlander season six premiere is being held in London on 24 February, before hitting streaming platform Starz on Sunday 6 March 2022.
Get the latest celebrity gossip and telly news sent straight to your inbox. Sign up to our weekly Showbiz newsletter here .
