Renewed in December 2022, The Sex Lives of College Girls is set to premiere its third season in late 2023. However, this season is confirmed to be the final appearance of series favourite Reneé Rapp as Leighton Murray.
First reported by Deadline, the news has since been confirmed by Rapp herself in a statement posted to both her Twitter and (now-expired) Instagram account. In the post, she spoke highly of her experience, stating, “college girls moved me out to LA and introduced me to some of my favourite people. 2 and a half years later — it’s given me y’all and this community.” Rapp also thanked series creators Justin Noble and Mindy Kaling, who created her own post expressing excitement for Rapp’s upcoming music tour.
Rapp’s character, Leighton Murray, has been praised as a positive representation of queer women, with her character spending the first two seasons breaking down personal prejudices surrounding her sexuality and the way it might affect the future she has meticulously planned for herself. Leighton initially hid her sexuality from her family and friends in order to join an exclusive sorority and live up to her legacy reputation but eventually came out in season two. Her coming out storyline was portrayed as joyous and freeing, going against media clichés which often show the experience as one of rejection and heartbreak.
Rapp also addressed the experience of playing a queer character in her statement, “a lot of queer work gets belittled – but playing Leighton has changed my life. i love who I am 10x more than I did before knowing her… she’s such a tiny part of representation but even the tiny parts count.” With the recent cancellations of shows praised for queer femme and non-binary representation such as Willow, First Kill, and Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies, the news may feel like another blow to media representation. However, as Rapp herself said, “even the tiny parts count” and Rapp will appear in the season for a small number of episodes before making her departure.
Among other projects Rapp will reprise her role as Regina George in the upcoming Mean Girls: The Musical film, scheduled to be released on Paramount+. Rapp also begins her ‘Snow Hard Feelings’ music tour in September 2023 which will cover the US before continuing in Europe in February 2024.
Rapp’s debut album Snow Angel launches on the 18th August 2023 and her new single ‘Talk Too Much’ is now streaming on Spotify, iTunes, and other major music streaming services.
You can stream both season of The Sex Lives of College Girls on Amazon and ITVX.
Words by Camille Murray
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