No one has ever said how ROSEANNE BARR's absence will be addressed on "The Conners" . . . but JOHN GOODMAN may have just let the cat out of the bag: In a new interview, he said she's DEAD.
He was asked about his character's future, and he said, quote, "It's an unknown. I guess he'll be mopey and sad because his wife's dead."
This was basically the most likely solution . . . in the last couple episodes of "Roseanne", she was dealing with a secret addiction to prescription painkillers . . . (But not Ambien.) . . . and heading for knee surgery.
So there's two ways she can die right there.
Elsewhere in the interview, John said he hasn't been in touch with Roseanne recently. He did send her a thank you e-mail when she signed away her rights to the show, but he didn't hear back from her.
He said, quote, "She was going through hell at the time."
John also said he was "surprised" by the cancellation and the fall-out, but added, quote, "I know for a fact that she's not a racist."
He also said that he was "brokenhearted" and even went through a period of depression after ABC fired her.
"The Conners" premieres on October 16th.