Ex-'Desperate Housewives' Star Josh Henderson Uses the Internet to Try to Save His Character

May 2, 2007 — -- On Sunday nights millions of smitten young women had a standing date with "Desperate Housewives" resident hunk Austin McCann. But on March 3 the romance ended when the character drove down Wisteria Lane on his motorcycle one last time and off the ABC hit show. The bad boy of Fairview didn't exactly leave on good terms, potentially impregnating one girl while cheating on another.

But for Josh Henderson, the real small-town boy who plays Austin, life couldn't be better.

The 25-year-old who went from Tulsa to Tinsletown is living out the Hollywood dream. Producers have come knocking with hot scripts and it doesn't hurt that he's rumored to be dating Paris Hilton. The pair has been spotted all over town and in cozy tabloid pics and the blogs are on fire about the good-looking duo.

Henderson has broken a lot of hearts with the Hilton rumors and his departure from "Desperate Housewives." But in an exclusive interview with ABC News, Henderson explains, "It was sad to leave the show, but I don't believe 'Desperate Housewives' fans have seen the last of me."

And it's his die-hard fans that have taken matters into their own hands, creating a "Save Austin" petition. Thousands of online signatures have been sent to the producers of the show.

The petition is linked to Henderson's MySpace page. The star currently has 4,200 friends on the site; the majority are strangers hoping to connect with the heartthrob. Recently the actor had 700 friend requests in one day.

The petition, reads,"Yo!! Everyone help and support. This is to help my character on the show. Please check out link and sign if u will. Thanks so much for all the support! God Bless- Josh"

Hundreds of comments can be found on the site from fans like Terusha who wrote, "I signed it !!! I hope Austin stays :-)." Screen name Desperate Teenager said, "Oh the Austin/Julie storyline is just toooo good for this show!" and the DSC professed, "South Florida loves us some Joshie......U aint leavin yet! The show would be nothing without you on there."

MySpace is an outlet the actor is using to drum up support and connect to his fans by diligently responding to each and every one. Henderson told ABC News, "I spend up to two hours a day on correspondence. Hearing from fans on the Internet and being able to directly respond to the fan base is exciting. You can cut out the middle man like the fan club…before a recent appearance in Tyler, Texas, I had fans reaching out on MySpace offering their lake house, Mavericks tickets. It was amazing."