The Sex Lives of College Girls was quick to address Nico’s absence after Gavin Leatherwood‘s exit from the HBO Max series.
In the first episode of season 2, which premiered on Thursday, November 17, it is revealed that Nico was expelled from Essex College. “The administration started an investigation and a bunch of Thetas got kicked out,” Reneé Rapp, who plays Nico’s sister Leighton explained. “Thankfully, my dad was able to make a big donation to Cornell and got him a spot next semester.”
During season 1, Kimberly (Pauline Chalamet) discovered that Nico’s fraternity had access to all the test answers to every exam at the school. After getting caught up in the academic cheating, Kimberly ultimately admitted to her mistakes and had her scholarship revoked.
The college student, however, didn’t name Nico or his fraternity. Her love interest, for his part, handed over the tests to Kimberly in an effort to help her not get expelled.
Nico’s offscreen departure comes after Leatherwood, 28, exclusively announced to Us Weekly that he would not be returning to the hit series.
“There is a season 2, but I’m not going to go back,” the actor revealed during an interview with Us in March about his shocking exit. “It was such an incredible experience. I think Mindy is brilliant and the cast, everyone’s lovely. 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 Chilling Adventures of Sabrina alum noted that although he was “happy to do the first season,” he has since been looking to branch off in “a different direction.” That same month, a source close to the streaming platform confirmed to Us that Leatherwood will not be returning to the dramedy.
Ahead of season 2, Chalamet, 30, weighed in on Kimberly’s love life now that Nico is out of the picture.
“Kimberly’s love life is not nonexistent and there’s definitely some exciting things — plural — to look forward to,” the actress, who is Timothée Chalamet’s sister, teased to Elite Daily on Wednesday, November 16. “But Kimberly is kind of left at the end of Season 1 in such a difficult position that affects her ability to stay at school, and that’s what we’re gonna see really take the forefront of Season 2.”
The King of Staten Island star added: “If Kimberly was confronted with difficult situations in Season 1, those situations just get even messier by the end of Season 2.”
