The Sex Lives of College Girls has been renewed for season 3 – thank everything that's holy. We've got all the info you need at just a glance, including the release window, the returning cast, possible plot and any other news you could possibly ask for.
Fans, rejoice: HBO Max treats us to another season of The Sex Lives of College Girls, and we'll get to experience the chaotic lives of our favorite roommates once more at Essex College. Let's all take a moment to celebrate the fact this comedy survived the purge at HBO – lots of good shows were canceled in the last few months, heartbreakingly so.
Thankfully, The Sex Lives of College Girls made it out alive. Season 2 left us both dreading what's to come while also highly anticipating the resolution to a finale full of cliffhangers, but we'll get to that further down.
The Sex Lives of College Girls Season 3 Is "Coming Soon"
Waiting for The Sex Lives of College Girls' third season to release hasn't been the most pleasant experience so far – first, HBO Max teased the girls would return in spring of 2024. Well, that came and went without me getting to enjoy an even more disastrous college experience than I had, so there's that.
In early August, HBO sparked hope once more: in a compilation of what's to come to the streaming service in 2024 and 2025, we got a glimpse at Kimberly, Bela, Whitney and Leighton – and they actually seem to be in high spirits. Blink it, and you'll miss it, but around the 42 seconds mark, there they are!
But the question remains: when is season 3 actually going to release? Well, our educated guess is still 2024 – a fall release makes sense to us. Also, I don't think I can wait any longer, so here's hoping!
The Sex Lives of College Girls | What Happened So Far
If you somehow made it here without watching season 2 first, kindly click away and catch up. There are spoilers ahead!
It's been a little while since season 2 graced our screens, so here's a little recap. We left off with three life-altering cliffhangers. Ironically, Leighton is the only one who's happy for once – who would have thought? That's what I call character development, but I digress.
Leighton is with Alicia again after dumping her lookalike girlfriend, has denied moving into the Kappa house and seems to finally accept herself and her friends and live her best life. On the other hand, each of her roommates lead disastrous lives at the moment.
Bela literally made one bad decision after the other, made sure a picture of her is in the dictionary next to the world "selfish" and tries to cope by running from the consequences by transferring schools after the whole The Foxy disaster.
Kimberly thinks she's okay-ish, but unknowingly to her, Whitney has seen her and Canaan – Whitney's ex – making out and Kimberly missed the opportunity to come clean, instead opting to lie to Whitney about the kiss. Rooming together again seems off the table for now as Whitney chooses the Kappa house in the wake of the betrayal.
Those are a bunch of problems between the girls that need to be tackled in the next season in order to smooth things over. Before I get to anxious about those fights, let's take a look at the returning – and sadly leaving – cast in season 3.
The Returning Cast For Season 3 And One Hard Goodbye
Obviously, the girls have lots of issues to solve, but not everybody makes it. Reneé Rapp, who plays Leighton on the show, has already announced she'll slowly fade out and season 3 is going to be her last. She'll only star in a couple episodes in the upcoming season, too, so make sure to enjoy every second with her.
Rapp is the only one so far that's packing up her things, so the remaining cast is set to return for now – yes, even Amrit Kaur as Bela, even though her character tries to leave Essex College at the moment. Pauline Chalamet and Alyah Chanelle Scott, Kimberly and Whitney on the show, obviously have to figure some things out and are both expected to return for season 3.
In the middle of those two: Canaan, played by Christopher Meyer. As he's kind of integral to the conflict between Kimberly and Whitney, chances are we'll see him return in season as well, along with his co-worker Lila, played by Ilia Isorelýs Paulino. And, even though Leighton will play a smaller part now, chances are we'll see her again-girlfriend Alicia, played by Midori Francis, at her side.
Renée Rapp Leaves The Sex Lives of College Girls
Tough pill to swallow, but it is how it is: Renée Rapp will leave the show and take Leighton with her. She won't be a series regular in season 3, only doing a couple of episodes and then leaving the show for good. There's no signs of bad blood, though, as Rapp shared in an Instagram story:
college girls moved me out to LA and introduced me to some of my favorite people. 2 and a half years later – it's given me y'all and this community. thank u mindy, justin and everyone at Max for believing in me. 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. i hope she gave y'all a little bit of that too. 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. i love that bitch more than you know. I'm so excited for this season and I can't wait for you to see what we have coming for her and the girls.
Luckily, Leighton slowly leaving the spotlight does make sense, even if it hurts. When audiences first got to know her, she was entitled, in the closet and still tried to just live up to her family's expectations – she overcame all of those things at the end of the second season. All of her issues have been resolved by now, at least giving her a happy end.
How and if her roommates reach a happy end remains to be seen – hopefully soon. We'll keep you updated, promise!