Scott Foley's Scrubs Spoiler!

Scott Foley exits NBC's Scrubs next Thursday when his dolphin trainer character Sean accepts a plum research gig in Hawaii. But as the beloved Felicity grad reveals, that doesn't mean his on-screen romance with Sarah Chalke's Elliot will flatline. "We decide that we're going to try a long-distance relationship," he tells TV Guide Online. "At the last minute, Elliot says, 'We can do it! We can make it work!' It's really sweet."

Still, the couple's long-term prognosis appears grim given that Foley is only signed on to do one more episode — tentatively scheduled for February. (He's currently appearing on Broadway in Richard Greenberg's morality tale The Violet Hour.) And despite rumors, Foley says there was never any talk of him coming on board as a permament Scrubs cast member. "They never approached me and said, 'Hey, do you want to be a regular?'"

Foley probably would have turned down such an offer anyway. "I don't know if I want to jump into a series where I can't go from project to project," admits the actor, still smarting from the sudden death of his NBC sitcom A.U.S.A. "I'm very lucky right now. I recently finished [the Wes Craven-helmed horror flick] Cursed; I just ended a great arc on Scrubs; I'm doing a Broadway show... I don't need to [commit to another series]. I'd [rather] take some chances."

That said, he's clearly looking forward to returning to Scrubs — if only to reunite with his newly-shorn leading lady. "I have such a huge crush on Sarah Chalke," confesses the 31-year-old, whose three-year marriage to Alias star Jennifer Garner ended last spring. "She's goofy, sexy, clumsy... everything you look for in a girl." Well, almost everything. Sighs the born-again bachelor: "She has a boyfriend."

For more on Foley, pick up the current issue of TV Guide magazine (on sale now).