Everything to know about Lucy, Stephen and all that toxic 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, played by Grace Van Patten, and Stephen, played by 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 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.

But in the college timeline, where most of the show lives, Lucy and Stephen are happily back together after a season of trying to ruin one another’s lives — or, at least, they’re happy together for now. A new trailer for Season 3 hints at more lies, juicy drama and romantic entanglements to come.

The trailer opens with Lucy recording a video of herself tearfully apologizing — though it’s unclear for what. She’s dating Stephen again, which her friends (rightly) think is “crazy.” Meanwhile, Pippa (Sonia Mena) is back together with Rigley (Spencer House) despite having feelings for Stephen’s ex, Diana (Alicia Crowder). Bree also can’t seem to stop thinking about her fling with older man Oliver (Tom Ellis), despite the head games he put her through last season.

And Stephen is back to his sociopathic ways: When Lucy asks Stephen why he’s doing “this,” he callously responds, “Because I want to hurt you, and I don’t know how else to do it.” Umm, OK, Stephen!

The series, which is executive produced by Emma Roberts and based on Carola Lovering’s novel, has outpaced the book’s narrative, meaning it’s anyone’s guess what comes next. Here’s what we know about the new season.

When is Tell Me Lies Season 3 coming back?

Hulu renewed Tell Me Lies in December 2024, two months after its Season 2 finale. The series, which airs weekly, premieres on Jan. 13, 2026.

Which love interests are returning to stir up drama?

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 would return to film Season 3.

“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.

Are there any newcomers?

Iris Apatow is making her Tell Me Lies debut in Season 3. She’ll play a recurring character named Amanda, described by Deadline as “a bubbly but fragile college freshman keeping a big secret.”

Meanwhile, 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 appears briefly in the trailer having a conversation with Lucy.

Alex 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?!

What spoilers do we have for Season 3?

Showrunner Meaghan Oppenheimer teased that she’s eager for fans to reexamine how they view Lucy, who will face consequences she may or may not deserve this season.

“I hear a lot of people say ‘she’s as bad as Stephen,’ which I think, it’s just baffling to me that anyone thinks that, but here we go,” Oppenheimer told ABC’s On the Red Carpet. “And so they’ve been asking for Lucy to be punished since Season 1. And so I was doing something where I’m like, we’re gonna put her on this punishment storyline. And I want you guys to ask yourselves at the end of the season if you feel OK about that, you know? How do you actually feel that you were so hard on this girl? Does it not feel like it was maybe too much?”

As for Stephen, don’t expect him to turn over a new leaf.

“He’s questioning his morality. I think he’s having feelings, he doesn’t know what they are. And he’s trying to, you know, react,” actor White told the outlet. “He doesn’t know what to do with his feelings, except to hurt people. That’s his only weapon. So, we just see him do everything he’s been doing, but worse.”

Any behind-the-scenes romances?

Some of the Tell Me Lies cast is dating offscreen — like Van Patten and White, who, as of December 2025, were still in a relationship. The two met during 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 engaged to Katherine Hughes, who portrayed his short-lived girlfriend in Season 2. Hughes posted photos of herself flashing her engagement ring on Instagram in October.