'Riverdale' Star Ashleigh Murray Officially Leaving Show

It's officially been confirmed that Riverdale star Ashleigh Murray is leaving the CW drama to move to its spinoff, Katy Keene, as the spinoff has been officially picked up by the network.

Deadline reports that Katy Keene was given a series order this week by the CW, with Riverdale having previously received a renewal for its fourth season.

Murray played singer Josie McCoy on Riverdale and was cast as a co-lead in Katy Keene, which is set several years after Riverdale and takes place in New York City. Lucy Hale plays the titular character, a fashion designer set on following her dreams in the big city who meets Josie, who has arrived to chase musical stardom.

"Bold, big-hearted and independent, Hale's Katy Keene is a twentysomething New Yorker who aspires to be a fashion designer. When she's not working as a personal shopper at a luxury department store, she's navigating friendship and dating in the big city," Deadline shares. As for Josie, she's "More determined than ever to break into the music scene as the next Diana Ross, Josie finds herself forging new friendships, falling into new relationships, and, one day, becoming the star she is destined to be,"

Josie said goodbye to Riverdale during the April 24 episode, when she announced that she'd be leaving to join her dad on tour. While Josie had long been a member of the gang, appearing on the show since its premiere in 2017, her focus was always on her music, making her exit seem natural and paving the way for Murray to score a bigger role on Katy Keene.

Along with Hale and Murray, the spinoff will also star Julia Chan as mysterious socialite Pepper Smith and Jonny Beauchamp as a bodega worker named Jorge who moonlights as a drag queen named Ginger.

According to the show's official description, "Katy Keene follows the lives and loves of four iconic Archie Comics characters — including fashion legend-to-be Katy Keene and singer/songwriter Josie McCoy — as they chase their twenty-something dreams in New York City."

Katy Keene hails from Riverdale creator and executive producer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, who also helms the Archie Comics spinoff Chilling Adventures of Sabrina on Netflix.

CW president Mark Pedowitz previously confirmed that Riverdale will not crossover into Katy Keene, as the two shows take place years apart.

"Katy Keene takes places years after Riverdale High School," Pedowitz said at TCA. "There are no plans to do anything [regarding a crossover]. Any of the Riverdale characters who come to Katy Keene will be older. Robert [Aguirre-Sacasa] is getting the pilot right."

Photo Credit: The CW