The Big Bang Theory star Jim Parsons is speaking out about the contract negotiations that took place this summer and cleared the air about the seriousness of the dispute.

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Parsons (who plays Sheldon), Johnny Galecki (Leonard) and Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting (Penny) each received $1 million-per-episode contracts ahead of Season 8, a huge bump from their previous $350,000-per-episode contracts.

This was after weeks of negotiations between the series and the actors' representatives, causing production on Season 8 to be delayed. Parsons spoke with Entertainment Weekly this week and discussed the biggest misconceptions in the media about the dispute.

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"I always thought everything would be worked out by the start date [of July 30] ... When it wasn't, it certainly wasn't a good feeling, but there was absolutely no getting around the fact that everything had to be dealt with and finished before we could get back," Parsons explained. "You see the word 'strike'-'They're walking out!'-but there was nothing to walk out from. That's always hard, because part of you wants to explain to people what's really going on. 'Don't worry, we're not leaving, we want to do the show.'"

With their new contracts, Parsons, Galecki and Cuoco-Sweeting are in the territory of NBC's massively successful sitcom Friends, when the six leads were making $1 million per episode in the final seasons.

The Big Bang Theory Season 8 is set to premiere Monday, Sept. 22 at 8 p.m. on CBS. The sitcom will have an hour-long premiere.

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