'Tell Me Lies' is returning for Season 3: New cast members, returning faces and plenty of toxic relationship drama
Tell Me Lies is returning to Hulu for Season 3, and with it, the most toxic situationship known to mankind. I am, of course, talking about the dynamic between Lucy (Grace Van Patten) and Stephen (Jackson White), who meet at the fictional Baird College and then proceed to hook up, break up and attempt to destroy one another … before repeating the cycle all over again.
All the drama then bleeds over into adulthood, when the gang meets up again for the wedding of their college besties Bree (Catherine Missal) and Evan (Branden Cook) eight years after Lucy's freshman year — a flash-forward that we'll see more of when the show returns for Season 3. In the Season 2 finale, a voicemail from Stephen threatened to implode that relationship — and Lucy's friendship with Bree — moments before Bree was slated to head down the aisle. Classic Stephen.
The series, which is executive produced by Emma Roberts and based on Carola Lovering's novel of the same name, has outpaced the book's narrative, meaning it's anyone's guess what comes next. However, we already have some juicy tidbits about the upcoming third season. Here's what you need to know before the series returns.
Hulu renewed Tell Me Lies in December 2024, two months after its Season 2 finale. There's no release date for Season 3 just yet, but the show is currently in production in Georgia, where Agnes Scott College in Decatur is a stand-in for the fictional upstate New York college.
There was a two-year gap between the first and second seasons of Tell Me Lies, so it's possible we may have a while to wait before new episodes arrive.
One person who we're not sure will return is Thomas Doherty, who played Lucy's fan-favorite boyfriend, Leo. Unfortunately, Lucy dumped Leo in favor of getting back with Stephen at the end of Season 2. (Big mistake. Huge.)
'I wasn't actually too surprised about the fans' reaction to my character,' Doherty told Us Weekly. 'After Season 1, Leo just slotted into that gap. It made sense. What did surprise me was all the outpouring of love. It's really kind of overwhelming at times.'
For fans of the actor, you can see him on another show: Doherty is joining the cast of Paradise Season 2 opposite Sterling K. Brown.
One surprising returning love interest? Tom Ellis, who played college professor Oliver in Season 2. In the second season, married Oliver has a secret relationship with Bree (his wife's student!), which soured when it was revealed that his wife was well aware of the affair.
Originally, Ellis — who is married IRL to creator Meaghan Oppenheimer — said that he would not be coming back to the series, but in a May 6 interview with People, he said he's returning to film Season 3 imminently.
'I've got to be honest, the focus isn't so much on my character this season, but it still plays very much into the Bree storyline,' he teased to the magazine.
The Lucifer star also hinted there's more drama to come, calling the series as 'dark, toxic and funny' as ever. 'Just when you thought our characters couldn't do anything more ridiculous to themselves, they ended up doing it,' Ellis said.
As Ellis promised, Tell Me Lies is diving deeper into Bree's storyline this year. Costa D'Angelo will play Alex, described by Deadline as a psychology grad student and part-time drug dealer who has a 'complicated past with Bree.'
He also sounds a little bit like Stephen, as he's described as 'aloof and borderline rude' with 'hidden depths.' Let's just hope that, unlike Stephen, those 'hidden depths' don't reveal more narcissistic personality traits.
Alex's addition is particularly intriguing for fans who are eager to know who Bree was having a tense phone conversation with on her wedding day. While some speculated it could be Oliver on the receiving end of the phone call, others thought the call could be connected to Bree's foster care past. Perhaps Alex is her foster brother or someone else she knew before her days at Baird?!
Some of the Tell Me Lies cast is dating offscreen — like Van Patten and White, who, as of fall 2024, were still in a relationship. The two originally met around the time of the audition process and have been together ever since.
'Because we established that dynamic first season, the second season was a lot easier to switch on and off,' Van Patten revealed to E! News in fall 2024. 'And we're so different from these characters, so it's honestly just an opportunity to get all of our bad feelings out so that there's none left by the time we go home.'
They're not the only members of the Tell Me Lies cast to have found love offscreen with their costar. Cook, who plays Evan, is dating Katherine Hughes, who portrayed his short-lived girlfriend in Season 2. Cook recently appeared in her birthday Instagram post, holding the cake.
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On Instagram, he showed the poor condition of his house, revealing several holes in the walls and ceiling. In January, Joss experienced two house fires. The second destroyed the house and his car and killed his three dogs, according to social media posts from Joss and his partner. 'Everything I owned… gone. My memories, my keepsakes, my family, my comfort in this world lost in the flames,' he wrote on Facebook. In the months that followed, Joss frequently took to social media to ask fans for financial support. He regularly shared a GoFundMe link started by a fan, which has now raised over $20,000. He sold autographed photos, personalized video messages, t-shirts and '$1 wisdom sayings.' He also posted about marrying his partner on Valentine's Day. In one post with de Gonzales, Joss wrote: 'We shall endeavor to persevere together.' He frequently tried to secure transportation and financial support on Facebook to be able to make celebrity appearances at conventions. 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Another family showed up this week to remember Joss at the site of the shooting. Paul Gonzalez and Tiffany Zurita said that they lived nearby, but never knew Joss lived in the area. 'We grew up watching the cartoon, you know, me and my wife when we were kids – so just shocked by it,' Gonzalez said of the killing. They brought a pinwheel to place at the memorial, explaining that it helped their own family when experiencing loss. It was something 'to kind of bring that little life back in,' Zurita said. 'You know, the wind's blowing, you see it blowing in the wind, and it just, you know, kind of reminds you that that person's still here,' she said. 'It's a symbol of peace and serene surroundings.' They both said prayers for everyone involved in the tragic incident – and for the neighbors as well. 'I hope they all find peace in time,' said Gonzalez. CNN's Lisa Respers France, Dianne Gallagher, Devon Sayers, Andy Buck, Jeremy Grisham, and Leah Thomeer contributed to this report.
