High School Musical: The Musical: The Series spoilers follow.
High School Musical: The Musical: The Series fans waved goodbye to Olivia Rodrigo's Nini Salazar-Roberts this week.
To mark the end of season 3, showrunner Tim Federle spoke to TVLine about this changing of the guard, as popstar Rodrigo prioritises her musical endeavours.
"I felt like we couldn't do a season finale without Olivia Rodrigo," he said.
Related: Why High School Musical season 3 really is the start of something new
"I think there will always be a contingent of people who were there from the beginning and know that Ricky and Nini were a special launch to the show. But it's also fun to start writing new chapters," he added in response to the trending #Rini on Twitter.
Given limitless production time, would Nina have enjoyed more one-on-one goodbyes with her East High School cohorts?
"Yeah, Olivia was about to go on tour, so I had three days with her at the beginning of the season," Federle revealed. "Even before we shot anything at the camp, we shot Olivia out of the entire season.
"There were only so many actors available that early in the run, and since she and Kourtney were the OG besties, that felt right. I would have loved a big group send-off, but it just wasn't in the cards with our schedule."
Related: High School Musical TV star Olivia Rodrigo breaks UK music charts records
However, there's still plenty of hope in the High School Musical universe.
Earlier this week, it was reported that season 4 of the series will see the school lending itself to a High School Musical 4: The Reunion movie, meaning there could be a whole host of original stars making their way back to the franchise.
High School Musical: The Musical: The Series streams on Disney+.
Best Entertainment and Tech Deals
