High School Musical: The Musical: The Series spoilers follow.
High School Musical boss Tim Federle addresses a possible queer romance for Joshua Bassett's character in season 3.
The show has previously dropped a hint in the third season that Ricky Bowen could pursue a queer relationship when he was discussing the casting for the camp's Frozen musical.
Ricky mentions the possibility of recasting the show around two male leads as boyfriends, then gives a knowing look to the camera. When Digital Spy recently chatted with show boss Tim Federle, we asked if there was a possibility of incorporating a queer relationship for Ricky.
Related: Why High School Musical season 3 really is the start of something new
"One of the joys of a long-running show is that you get to explore all facets and all aspects of all of these characters," he said. "So as a queer storyteller myself, I feel a real responsibility to try to tell the truth about the experience of young people today, which is so much more fluid and accepting and exploratory than I think it was when I was a youth.
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"I think particularly for Ricky this season, he's got some big things to figure out. He ends up going to summer camp, feeling like: 'It's going to be a summer of fun, and I'm not getting involved romantically. My last entire year has been the obsession of trying to figure my romantic life out'.
"And as so often happens, the best-laid plans go up in smoke when someone important distracts you. So I think he's definitely on a big arc this season."
Related: High School Musical TV series confirms Olivia Rodrigo's exit in season 3
The producer also spoke about how changing up the location for season three – from East High School to Camp Shallow Lake – allows for the character dynamics to completely change.
"It's fun, after a couple of years of doing this show, just to shake it up a bit. And I know when I went to summer camp, all rules are off. You're meeting people for the first time. They don't know who you are. They don't know your baggage or your history.
"I think summer camp offers not just sort of fun under the sun and a little bit of scandal under the stars, but it allows you to decide who you want to be when you go back to school. And this really is the summer that kind of changes everything."
High School Musical: The Musical: The Series is premiering weekly on Disney+.
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Justin is a freelance entertainment journalist and writer. He first joined Digital Spy as a freelance entertainment reporter in 2010 and also worked as a sub-editor for the brand, serving as Night News Editor from 2016 to 2024. Over more than a decade, Justin has covered numerous major entertainment events from the US and has interviewed a wide-ranging group of public figures, from comedian Steve Coogan to icons from the Star Trek universe, cast members from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and reality stars from numerous Real Housewives cities and the Below Deck franchise. Justin has also been on the ground to cover major pop culture events like the Star Wars Celebration and the D23 Expo. He's written for titles across the Hearst network, plus the likes of CBR and Us Weekly.
After teaching in England and South Korea, David turned to writing in Germany, where he covered everything from superhero movies to the Berlin Film Festival.
In 2019, David moved to London to join Digital Spy, where he could indulge his love of comics, horror and LGBTQ+ storytelling as Deputy TV Editor, and later, as Acting TV Editor.
David has spoken on numerous LGBTQ+ panels to discuss queer representation and in 2020, he created the Rainbow Crew interview series, which celebrates LGBTQ+ talent on both sides of the camera via video content and longform reads.
Beyond that, David has interviewed all your faves, including Henry Cavill, Pedro Pascal, Olivia Colman, Patrick Stewart, Ncuti Gatwa, Jamie Dornan, Regina King, and more — not to mention countless Drag Race legends.
As a freelance entertainment journalist, David has bylines across a range of publications including Empire Online, Radio Times, INTO, Highsnobiety, Den of Geek, The Digital Fix and Sight & Sound.
