Is Olivia Rodrigo in 'High School Musical: The Musical: The Series' Season 3? The "brutal" Singer Is a Hot Commodity

Every day we aspire to be as effortlessly cool as Gen Z icon Olivia Rodrigo. Who knew that a beautifully mundane, somewhat juvenile, melancholy song about getting your driver's license to drive around with a boy could be so darn painful and relatable? With her raw singing and song-writing talent and cool-girl Vivienne Westwood-esque aesthetic, Olivia is a force to be reckoned with in the entertainment landscape.

Though now, in the godforsaken year of 2022, Olivia is a three-time Grammy-winning artist, but the "good 4 u" singer rose to fame in the role of Nini in Disney Plus's show High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. Helmed by Tim Federle, the teen musical drama series follows high school students from the school where the High School Musical movies were filmed as they put on a musical based on said cult classic Disney Channel films. So, yeah, it's very meta.

The highly anticipated Season 3 of the series is set to air on Wednesday, July 27, 2022, and superfans are dying to know whether or not Olivia Rodrigo will appear in the third installment. She is an international superstar now, after all.

For Olivia stans, Season 3 of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series will be bittersweet, as it will be her last season with the show.

"Nini, whose storyline ended last season with an opportunity to go to Los Angeles and explore songwriting on a larger stage, will be off on her own parallel journey of identity this season as she puts Salt Lake City in the rearview mirror," wrote Entertainment Tonight. While Olivia will still be in Season 3, her presence will not be at the forefront.

"I think she's ready to explore the world outside the halls of East High," Tim Federle said regarding Olivia's character. "And Olivia herself was having such a monumental explosion in the music industry that it felt like the right thing to, frankly, work with Olivia to say, 'How do we get you out there into the world with us taking a little bit more of a backseat?' Which we were all proud to do to support her."

It's something everyone saw coming if we're being honest.

"And so this season it's about trying to give her character a proper sendoff while also leaving room for other characters to really step into the fray and step into the spotlight," Tim continued.

"And personally, it's a joy to see Olivia's music explode in such a big way. It was so fun to have her back and reminisce on the beginning."

The world also knows that Olivia and her co-star Joshua Bassett — who plays Richard Bowen — had a very public breakup (hello, Sour is very much about him), but we doubt that has anything to do with the easing out of Nina. Olivia Rodrigo has bigger fish to fry at this point.

Seasons 1 and 2 of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series are currently streaming on Disney Plus.