Two years since the Season 2 finale,The Sex Lives of College Girlsis finally back for Season 3. Everything appears normal at first as the four main characters find themselves reunited and start theirsophomore year of college. Kimberly (Pauline Chalamet) and Whitney (Alyah Chanelle Scott) have made amends after not speaking to each other for a whole summer after Kimberly was caught lying to Whitney about kissing her ex. Bela (Amrit Kaur) has found herself looking for a new purpose and takes on the role of residence director for the freshman dorm after finding out she doesn’t have the credits to transfer. Finally, there is Leighton (Reneé Rapp), who has found herself continuing with her relationship with Alicia (Midori Francis).
However, fans should expect a change, as in 2023, it was confirmed that Rapp would be leavingThe Sex Lives of College Girlsin Season 3. While fans have had over a year to prepare for her departure, many were wondering how the series would see the character leaving the show if she was going to appear, and based on the trailers, she is in a good portion of the season. Here is why Reneé Rapp is leavingThe Sex Lives of College Girlsand how the series is writing around her departure.
The Sex Lives of College Girls
Reneé Rapp Is Leaving Acting Behind
Reneé Rapp is departingThe Sex Lives of College Girlsbecause she wants to focus more on her career as a musical artist. On the surface, this sounds like the reverse of Ariana Grande, who, after years of being primarily known as a pop star, is looking to get back into acting full-timefollowing her role as Galinda inWicked. However, Rapp’s reason for leaving behind acting is a little more personal.
Rapp said ahead of the release ofMean Girls, where she reprised her role as Regina George from the Broadway show, thatshe wanted to leave acting behind partially because of the anxiety the profession gave her. Rapp had previously mentioned when she starred inMean Girlson Broadway, it had exacerbated her eating disorder. The movieadaptation of the musicalMean Girlsopened in theaters on July 13, 2025, and was her final acting role beforeSex Lives of College Girls.
Rapp had already proven herself an incredible singer due to both the stage and film adaptation ofMean Girls, but she has since been making more moves in the musical space. Rapp released her first EP,Everything to Everyone, on August 12, 2025, six days beforeThe Sex Lives of College GirlSeason 2 debuted. Her debut studio album,Snow Angel, landed on shelves on June 02, 2025. BetweenSnow Angel,Mean Girls, andSex Lives of College Girls, Rapp has had quite a year.While she might be leaving acting behind for now, the future certainly looks bright for her as a singer.
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How They Are Writing Her Out of the Series
When it comes to writing Rapp’s character Leighton out ofThe Sex Lives of College Girls,the creators appear to be dedicating a couple of episodes to her departure instead of her leaving before the start of the series. Leighton’s storyline in the Season 3 premiere episode shows her tackling two stressful issues between her personal life and school.
First, her girlfriend,Alicia, tells her that she’s leaving college to get a job working for the newly elected mayor of Boston. Leighton reacts poorly to the news, trying to ice Alicia out so she won’t leave college because Leighton assumes this means their relationship is over. Yet Alicia tells her she loves her and has no desire to break up with her, and the two decide to take it one day at a time, setting up a long-distance relationship.
Meanwhile, the incredibly advanced math class Leighton signed up for doesn’t have enough people taking it, so it gets canceled. At the professor’s suggestion, she tried to take the course at a local grad school, but it required a long commute by bus. After commuting one day, Leighton tells the professor that she will never do that again and needs to find a better option, to whichthe professor offers to speak to a friend at MIT, who may be able to accommodate a transfer. Leighton notes that MIT is in Boston, the same city that Alicia is going to be moving to.
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The implication is clear.The series will have Leighton make the decision to transfer to MIT, both to be with Alicia in Boston and as part of her bigger educational and career goals. While one would assume it would just be with Alicia, Leighton has never been one to do something just for love. She loves Alicia, but transferring to MIT would also be good for her professionally, as she has a desire and passion for math that a school like Essex cannot provide. It is a believable way to write Rapp’s out of the series sincemillions of college studentstransfer yearly between schools.
What Happens Next
Leighton’s departure fromThe Sex Lives of College Girlswill undoubtedly have some significant implications for the series. The first is it will have a major impact on her former suitemates and friends.This will certainly have a big impact on Kimberly, Whitney, and Bela, who must cope with a critical part of their friend group. Yet Leighton’s leaving does clear up one of the three-person beds so that Whitney can comfortably move back in, following her leaving the sorority she was at to reunite with her friends, but now, it seems to be a very crowded space.
The series will work around this by adding two new characters in Season 3. The first is Taylor (Mia Rodgers), a British freshman in Bela’s dorm, which she oversees. The second is Kacey (Gracie Lawrence), who will be introduced in the third episode of the season and will be a transfer student. She looks to change things up in the dynamic between the girls, being what is described by the series creators as a “girly girl,” a contrast to Kimberly’s nerdy persona, Whitney being the athlete of the group, and Bela being the sexually active jokster.Fans can also expect to see Lila (Ilia Isorelýs Paulino), one of Kimberly’s co-workers, become a bigger part of the groupas she had become more connected to the friend group last season.
Rapp’s departure is a big turning point forThe Sex Lives of College Girls. She is easily the biggest star in the series, andher presence will be greatly missed. Yet the series has an incredible cast of actors who have brought to life wonderful characters, and just like with life, plenty of new exciting faces will join the fray. Some people leave, and hopefully, they come back, but even when they don’t, the memories are still there, and plenty of good times with new people are always on the horizon.Stream on Max.
