Run the World‘s central quartet will now be a trio.
Andrea Bordeaux, who starred as Ella during Season 1 of the critically acclaimed Starz comedy, is exiting the series ahead of Season 2 after failing to comply with the production’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, Deadline reports.
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Run the World production company Lionsgate Television requires that cast and crew members who work in Zone A are fully vaccinated. Per Deadline, Lionsgate was in conversations with Bordeaux regarding her concerns about the mandate and offered “reasonable ways to accommodate them.” But alas, a “workable solution” did not pan out and Bordeaux chose to walk away from the show.
The role of Ella is not expected to be recast. It remains unclear how the show intends to address her departure upon its eventual return.
Starz renewed Run the World for a second season in August, while appointing Rachelle Williams — whose credits include Love Life, mixed-ish and Survivor’s Remorse — as its new showrunner. The series follows “a group of smart, funny, and vibrant thirty-something Black women” — played in Season 1 by Bordeaux, Amber Stevens West, Bresha Webb and Corbin Reid — “who live, work and play in Harlem,” per the official logline. “As they strive for world domination, they each navigate career highs and lows, hookups and heartbreaks that causes them to re-evaluate who they are and where they are going. At its core, it’s an authentic and unapologetic show about enviable friendship and not only surviving but thriving together.”
Will you miss Ella when Run the World returns for Season 2? Hit the comments with your reactions to her departure.
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