Warning: Alleged Spoilers After The Jump!

Emmy-winning actress Drea De Matteo can “fuhgeddabout” her role on the ABC dramedy Desperate Housewives, TV industy snitches spill in a report featured in the Nov. 30 issue of The National Enquirer.

“They’ve decided to sacrifice her in a blockbuster storyline they hope will goose ratings,” an insider dished.

Tabloid spies claim declining ratings, her hefty paycheck, and her character’s unability to “click with the viewers” has prompted Desperate creator and executive producer Marc Cherry to pull the plug on Drea’s Wisteria Lane character, Angie Bolen — similarly to the way the actress was snuffed out during the fifth season of The Sopranos.

Drea, 35 won a prestigious Emmy Award for her role as mobster girlfriend-turned-informant Adriana La Cerva on the now-defunct HBO hit. Her character was killed off after boyfriend Christopher found out about Adriana’s deal with the government. Now The Enquirer claims Drea can look forward to yet another of her onscreen alter ego biting the big one in a well-orchestrated mob hit. D.H. are reportedly brainstorming a plot that will see Drea’s Angie murdered after her shady past catches up with her in suburbia.

“There will be a big physical fight, and Angie will be rubbed out execution-style.”

Angie’s demise is bittersweet for Cherry, who hired the star after Nicollette Sheridan’s Edie was killed off the show in its fifth season. Cherry, as well as the crew of Desperate Housewives, are said to be saddened by Drea’s departure because the bubbly blonde is a joy to work with.

“She’s the only nondiva on the set,” a source divulged. “She’s a breath of fresh air because she’s so easy to work with. March is torn because he likes her but its a business decision.”

The set of Desperate Housewives is on swine flu alert this Wednesday, after series star star Teri Hatcher informed the show that she was recently diagnosed with the potentially fatal H1N1 virus.

Teri’s diagnosis comes at crunchtime for the top-rated ABC drama, which had been shooting scenes for the commuter plane that is expected to kill of several characters. Scenes with the entire cast have had to be rescheduled while Teri recuperates.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery, Teri!

Kathryn was first diagnosis with cancer in 2001, but quickly recovered, thanks to surgery and early detection. On Monday, the 69-year-old actress, who plays busy body neighbour Mrs McCluskey on the ABC dramedy, told PEOPLE that the disease has returned.

“I’ve got a little hang-up here but we’re going to handle it and move forward. I’m doing great,” she said. “I felt like the legs had been pushed out from under me. I completely did not expect it, and was devastated. I was crying for nearly five days straight.”

Kathyrn broke the news to her Housewives co-stars today, and notes that show producers are being “totally supportive” with arranging her filming schedule around treatment.

The star — once a heavy smoker — hopes to use her celebrity to “erase some of the stigma of lung cancer.”

Here’s to a speedy recovery, Kathyrn.

The network has inked a deal to produce a series of eight Desperate-themed commercials — which will “unfold as a weekly soap opera” — for mobile phone provider Sprint, Entertainment Weekly has learned. Some of the series’ minor characters may feature as “background extras,” says series Marc Cherry, who will write the spinoff ads.

According to co-executive producer Sabrina Wind, the ads will be shot by Desperate Housewives crewmembers on the Desperate Housewives set and be penned by Desperate Housewives writers.

“It’s very Desperate Housewives,” adds exec producer Sabrina Wind. “It was shot on our set, with our crew, and written by our writers.”

The 35-sec spots promise to feature plenty of “wicked dark humor, murder and adultery and betrayal.”

In the latest promo pics released, the five main characters – Bree, Gabrielle, Susan, Katherine and Lynette – pose in grey silk evening gowns atop a pile of red apples of temptation.

The new season begins in September.

Jesse Metcalfe, who portrayed Gabby’s sexy gardener John Rowland on the first season of Desperate Housewives, will return to the ABC dramedy for two episodes when the sixth season premieres this fall.

In Season One, Gabby embarks on a passionate love affair with a then-teenage John Rowland.

The sixth season premiere of ABC’s Desperate Housewives debuts on Sunday, September 27 @ 9/8PM.

Drea De Matteo is joining the cast of Desperate Housewives, Entertainment Weekly reported Monday.

The actress, who won an Emmy for her work as Crazy Horse manager Adriana on The Sopranos, has inked a deal to appear as a series regular on the award-winning ABC series. Taking a cue from her old role on the HBO series, Drea will play the matriarch of a new Italian family moving to Wisteria Lane.