Meloni 'SVU' return 'not purely financial'

Law & Order: SVU star Christopher Meloni has said that the problems with his show contract were not entirely financial.

Earlier this year, Meloni and co-star Mariska Hargitay stalled on renewing their terms, but have both recently signed new deals to continue with the series.

Speaking to TV Guide, Meloni said of the negotiations: "There were a few quality-of-life issues as well. Meaning work hours, that stuff.

"Aside from that, when you're dealing with the types of money - and I don't mean just mine and Mariska’s contracts - I mean the economic climate, everyone trying to squeeze out as much money as they can both from the product and us as performers that you have to tread carefully because it's a very uncertain environment out there. It was the dance that needed to be danced. It was a long waltz."

He added that the process angered some fans of the show.

"On the whole, 90% were with us and then you had the 10% [that] weren't. They were really upset that all this was maybe threatening the continuation of the show."

NBC recently announced that the new season of Law & Order: SVU will premiere on Wednesday, September 23.