Naya Rivera Leaving “Glee”

Say sayonara to Santana! After all of the hullabaloo surrounding the phasing out of Glee’s Chris Colfer, Lea Michele and Cory Monteith, whose characters are all seniors, it appears Naya Rivera — who plays sassy cheerleader Santana Lopez on the musical series — will also be saying farewell McKinley High.

During the annual Television Critics Association Convention in Malibu over the weekend, Rivera spilled the beans that her character will be among the Gleek “graduates” leaving the cast of FOX’s Emmy-winning comedy at the end of the season.

“I’m a senior. I guess that means I’m graduating. That’s what happens when you’re a senior! I don’t think it’s a thing,” Naya told an audience filled with the nation’s top TV pundits. “It’s like, what is it when you’re in high school? You’re a senior, you graduate. Yes, I’m graduating this year.”

Naya added that the experience “will always be bittersweet.”

“[‘Glee’] is like our baby and we’ve been with it since the beginning and it’s always sad,” she said. “It’s literally like the feeling of being in high school. It’s bittersweet, but it happens. That’s what you do. I’ve had a great run and hopefully it continues.”

Glee producer Ryan Murphy has hinted that a spinoff show for the graduating seniors could be in the works, and Rivera hopes that Santana would live on outside the confines of high school.

“Hopefully she gets into some type of college, but I think she’s going to be a hot mess in college.”

Meanwhile, it seems Santana won’t be the only mean girl at McKinley when Glee hits the airwaves for a second season this fall. Series producers have revealed that two new baddies will be joining the fold.

The two new female characters, named Sugar and Sheila, will be introduced early next season and they won’t be friendly! According to TVLine.com, Sugar is an “affluent, self-confident and god-awful singer,” while Sheila will have a bad girl edge with the tattoos to prove it! Casting scouts are also rumored to be scouting for new hottie to play the role of Bubba, a linebacker who begins dating Mercedes during the summer break.

What do you think about this new crop of characters? Would you prefer to see some of the original characters stay on instead?