Your Favorite Glee Stars Actually Aren't Leaving The Show

Remember how Glee co-creator Ryan Murphy said Lea Michele, Cory Monteith and Chris Colfer would be leaving the show at the end of next season, and you didn’t care so much about Finn but were distraught over the prospect of a life without Kurt? Well, we have good news: executive producer/co-creator Brad Falchuk revealed today at the Glee Comic Con panel that they’ll be staying on in some capacity. From Deadline:

“Here’s the exact thing: They’re seniors. They’re graduating. But that doesn’t mean they’re leaving the show,” Falchuk said. “It was never our intention or plan to let these people go… They are not done with the show after this season.” Later on in the panel he revealed they had discussed the possibility of a spin-off show depicting the three graduates in New York, trying to start careers on Broadway, but that it probably wouldn’t happen and he was “leaning against doing it.”

It’s unclear how the writers will pull this off. Will we check in on the trio’s collegiate adventures occasionally, or will they decide to work odd jobs around McKinley High for a year to save money for school?

We do know that one cast member is actually gone for good. Falchuk says that they offered to let Chord Overstreet continue guest starring for another 10 episodes with the possibility of becoming a regular after the mid-season break, but he declined:

“We wanted him back because we like Chord personally and had some good stories planned for him and with Mercedes (Amber Riley),” Falchuk said. “He decided he would have opportunities elsewhere that he would like to pursue, and we can’t force him to work. “We told him to go with god.”

Later Falchuck reassured fans on Twitter that this doesn’t mean Mercedes will remain single:

@GLEEonFOX: “Mercedes will have a new boyfriend she met over the summer in new season..”- Brad Falchuck #Glee #FOXSDCC
@TVGuide: #Glee: Mercedes’ boyfriend is a “big bubba” kind of guy, “very encouraging” — Brad Falchuk #sdcc

We’re not quite sure what that means, but it sounds like Santana may have another Southerner to ruthlessly mock.