What Reneé Rapp's Departure Could Mean For The Sex Lives of College Girls Season 3

There aren’t very many shows about the college experience, but Max’s The Sex Lives of College Girls captures this chapter of life with a solid mix of humor, heart, and messiness. Created by Mindy Kaling and Justin Noble, the comedy centers on four roommates — Kimberly (Pauline Chalamet), Leighton (Reneé Rapp), Whitney (Alyah Chanelle Scott), and Bela (Amrit Kaur) — as they juggle classes, relationships, and friendships at the prestigious Essex College. 

In December 2022, Max renewed the hit show for a third season. But last July, viewers were thrown for a major loop when Rapp announced that she would be departing the show. While she’s still slated to appear in a handful of episodes as a recurring character before officially exiting, she will no longer be a series regular. The announcement came as a shock to the show’s fanbase. Not only is Leighton Murray a pivotal part of the show, she’s a clear fan favorite. How will the series move forward without Rapp? Can The Sex Lives of College Girls even survive without everyone’s favorite messy lesbian?

There still aren’t a ton of details about Season 3, but fans are hungry to know more. What storylines can we expect from the upcoming season? When is the show coming back? From the reason behind Rapp’s departure to new casting announcements, here’s everything we know about Season 3 of The Sex Lives of College Girls.

Where did everyone leave off at the end of The Sex Lives of College Girls Season 2?

Season 2’s finale, “The Rooming Lottery,” shook up the suitemates’ dynamic and ended freshman year on a cliffhanger note. Initially, Kimberly and Whitney planned to room together again for sophomore year while Leighton moved into Kappa housing and Bela lived with The Foxy staff. However, it didn’t take long for everyone’s carefully laid plans to totally unravel. 

Leighton, who recently came out to her parents, realized that she didn’t actually want to be a Kappa after all. After receiving some unexpected encouragement from her mother, she decided to quit the sorority and focus on the women’s center and her newly rekindled relationship with Alicia (Midori Francis).

Kimberly and Whitney hit a breaking point in their friendship over Canaan (Christopher Meyer), Whitney’s ex-boyfriend and Kimberly’s coworker at Sipps. Upon realizing their mutual feelings for each other, Kimberly and Canaan shared a passionate kiss — but didn’t notice that Whitney saw. Reeling from the betrayal, Whitney went to Kappa and asked for Leighton’s old spot at the house, no longer planning to room with Kimberly and the others.

Meanwhile, Bela — who already had quite the rocky semester with her breakup with Eric (Mekki Lepper) — found herself caught in yet another mess. After Evangeline (Sierra Katow) and Jo (Cheyenne Perez) found out about her role in an article, they fired her from The Foxy and banned her from living with them. In a surprising move, Bela, tired of messing up her life at Essex, put in a request to transfer schools. 

Why is Reneé Rapp leaving The Sex Lives of College Girls?

Rapp hasn’t explicitly stated why she’s exiting the series, but she’s expressed a desire to focus more on her music career. She released her debut album “Snow Angel” in 2023 and will go on an international tour for it through 2025.

In July 2023, Rapp released a statement on social media confirming her exit. She thanked Kaling and Noble, and praised the show’s queer representation. “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,” the 24-year-old actress, who openly identifies as a lesbian herself, wrote. “She’s such a tiny part of representation, but even the tiny parts count. I wouldn’t be half the person I am without her and y’all.” She added that she was “so excited” for the upcoming season. 

Kaling also shared Rapp’s post to her Instagram story, writing, “We love @reneerapp so much and of course will be so sad to say goodbye to Leighton Murray! But we can’t wait to see our friend on tour!”

However, some fans have speculated that there may be more behind her sudden departure. In a March 2023 episode of the podcast Call Her Daddy, Rapp described filming the first season of the show as “terrible” due to trying to figure out her own identity at the time, as well as others on set allegedly doubting her sexuality. Additionally, in a September 2023 interview with the Los Angeles Times, she said she feels “anxious” and “sh*tty” on sets and questions whether she should “put [herself] in that environment,” although she didn’t name The Sex Lives of College Girls specifically. 

“The people in my life that I work with now care about me as a person,” Rapp told Vanity Fair in January. “And I think that is a difference from things I’ve experienced in the past."

What is The Sex Lives of College Girls Season 3 about?

We don’t know of any official plotlines yet, but Season 3 is likely to play around with the Whitney/Canaan/Kimberly love triangle some more. In an interview with Deadline, Noble explained that Whitney is “really holding a candle” for Canaan and ready to fix things between them, which is why it hurt so much to see him and Kimberly. 

“What we hopefully don’t realize until the end of Season 2 — or the beginning of Season 3 — is that thing that led to Whitney and Canaan’s downfall, which is Whitney not knowing where she was at: That’s fixed,” he said. “And the timing, as us agents of chaos in the writers room construct, is just perfectly imperfect.”

In the same interview, Noble said he thinks that Bela “has a ton to figure out” after everything she went through last season. Despite Bela’s request to transfer schools, there hasn’t been anything to suggest that she’ll actually leave Essex or that Kaur won’t return.

As for how Rapp’s departure will affect the show, it remains to be seen how exactly Leighton will make her exit. Fortunately, she isn’t just being written off in a brief mention like her brother Nico (Gavin Leatherwood) was. Rapp hasn’t confirmed how many episodes she’ll appear in for Season 3, but she’ll at least wrap up her storyline.

Who’s joining The Sex Lives of College Girls cast for Season 3?

Aside from Rapp, all of the series regulars are currently expected to return for Season 3. Additionally, two new cast members have joined the show. Earlier in April, Gracie Lawrence (Billions) and Mia Rodgers (Defending the Guilty, Trauma) were announced as series regulars. Per Deadline, Lawrence will play Kacey, a new transfer at Essex, while Rodgers is set to portray Taylor, a first-year international student. 

When does The Sex Lives of College Girls Season 3 premiere?

Max has not given an official release date yet, but more episodes are definitely on the way. Meyer confirmed in March that the show is back in production, sharing some cute behind-the-scenes photos on Instagram captioned “Day 1.” 

Seasons 1 and 2 of The Sex Lives of College Girls are streaming now on Max. Join the discussion about the show in our forums.

Kelly Martinez is a TV Reporter based in Los Angeles. Her previous work can be found at BuzzFeed and People Magazine, among other outlets. She enjoys reading, spending time with her cat, and explaining the plot of Riverdale to people.