Off Campus creator reveals how series will change after losing fan-favorite cast member

When Off Campus returns for a second season, it won’t be exactly the show fans fell in love with earlier this year.

The first season of the Elle Kennedy book series adaptation follows music major Hannah Wells (Ella Bright) and hockey captain Garrett Graham (Belmont Cameli), in a fake dating plot turned real relationship romance.

But now it’s time to pass the torch to a new couple, as season two adapts the second novel, The Mistake, meaning changes are taking place on set.

Speaking during Prime Video’s Obsessed Fest on Saturday, June 27, creator Louisa Levy addressed Josh Heuston’s exit from the show (he starred as Hannah’s initial love interest), and how it will make for less musical moments in the second season.

“We don’t have Josh and After Hours this season so we don’t have those bands,” she said, per Us Weekly, though maintained: “But we still have a lot of music in other ways. We will still have some light music in the show.”

“There’s going to be less live songs. Because we don’t have all of Hannah’s songwriting journey to play into,” she noted.

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“I still think the heart of the show lives in those needle drops and those songs that underscore a moment — as well as the actual score,” she added.

And though Josh — who recently sparked romance rumors with co-star Mika Abdalla — won’t appear in season two, Louisa did tell TV Guide “never say never” about a possible return.

“I love Josh and I would not write him off if I can find a way to bring Justin back at some point,” she said, noting: “We never got a chance to meet Stella, who is the person he ends up with in the book. So maybe we’ll find a way to fold him into a future season.”

In addition to Josh, Ella, Belmont and Mika, the first season of Off Campus, which is set in fictional Ivy League Massachusetts school Briar University, also starred Stephen Kalyn, Antonio Cipriano, Jalen Thomas Brooks, Julia Sarah Stone, and Steve Howey, among others.

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There are four total books in the Off Campus series; The Deal and The Mistake are followed by The Score, which follows Mika and Stephen’s characters Allie and Dean, and The Goal, which has yet to be featured in the TV adaptation.

There is also the novella The Legacy, which catches up with all the original couples after graduation, as well as the four books in the Briar U series, The Chase, The Risk, The Play and The Dare, which also follows different couples per book.