‘Sex Lives of College Girls’: Key Character Not Returning for Season 2

Sex Lives of College Girls is down one cast member as it heads into another season. The HBO Max series follows the lives of college students attending the fictional Essex University. Gavin Leatherwood, who stars as Nico Murray, will not reprise his role. “There is a season 2, but I’m not going to go back,” he told Us Weekly during a party amid Oscars weekend. A source close told the media outlet that Leatherwood was “happy to do the first season” of the show but he’s leaving as he is “branching off and going in a different direction.”

Mindy Kaling, the show’s co-creator, recently shared a snapshot of the first table read for the upcoming season. “Back at Essex College with these baddies,” Kaling, 42, wrote on social media. “@thesexlivesofcollegegirls Season 2 table read time!” In the first picture, Pauline Chalamet (Kimberly), Amrit Kaur (Bela), Reneé Rapp (Leighton) and Alyah Chanelle Scott (Whitney) pose alongside a few of their costars. Despite Leatherwood’s exit, there’s no bad blood, and he’s grateful for the time he spent on the dramedy. “It was such an incredible experience. I think Mindy is brilliant and the cast, everyone’s lovely,” Leatherwood told Us, speaking of the show’s co-creator Mindy Kaling. “But with so many amazing opportunities out there, we want to keep spreading our wings and leading ourselves to other projects so that’s the move.”

The Hawaiian native was in nine of the 10 episodes in the first season. The series first debuted in November 2021. His character was Kimberly’s French tutor who developed a secret relationship with her. Kimberly chose to keep their budding relationship a secret as her roommate Leighton (Renée Rapp) is Nico’s sister. The season finale revealed that Nico actually had a girlfriend that Kimberly was unaware of. 

“The people, of course, [are] the best part. People make the job, you know what I mean? Always, always, always,” he continued, explaining why he’ll miss working on set. “It’s such a lovely community because there’s so many talented people so … yeah, I’ll miss that and I’ll miss them.” 

Leatherwood is also known for playing Nicholas Scratch on Netflix’s Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, which he starred in from 2018 to 2020. He is also a singer and released his debut single “Just For Tonight” in 2021.