Congratulations are in order for Heather Morris. The Glee star, who plays Brittany S. Pierce on the hit FOX musical, is pregnant with her first child.
“She’s a little more than three months along and starting to show,” a source told US Weekly. “It was totally unexpected, but [Heather and her boyfriend] are incredibly happy and excited.”
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The father is her longtime boyfriend, Taylor Hubbell, who as of two years ago was a baseball player for the University of Louisiana at Lafeyette; the two met in high school. Morris is 26 years old. While they don’t currently have plans to get married, it’s not out of the question, as another source is quoted as saying, “I see it in their future.”
In an interview with Fitness magazine in 2011, Morris said, “I want to marry him so bad. That’s what I really care about. I want to marry Taylor and have kids with him. I love acting, but if it affects my relationship, then I won’t continue doing it.”
How will this affect her role on Glee? If she is three months into her pregnancy, this means she is due around October, well after the start of filming on season 5. There are a few different possibilities for how FOX could deal with this unexpected news. The only reason the character of Brittany is still roaming the halls of McKinley High is because she flunked her senior year. It seems unlikely Ryan Murphy would do the same again, instead having her graduate and start the next chapter of her life. So what will Brittany (and Heather Morris) be doing?
Option 1: Heather Morris Quits Glee (Or Becomes a Guest Star)
If you take her at her word (“I love acting, but if it affects my relationship, then I won’t continue doing it.”), there’s the chance she’ll quit acting and focus on being a full-time mother. If that’s the case, Brittany can graduate and we just won’t see what she does post-high school. It would be similar to how the show has dealt with Mercedes and Quinn, though these two have popped back up a few times this season. Morris could either stop acting altogether or make a guest appearance if the time is right.
Option 2: She Misses the Start of Season 5
If she still wants to be involved in the show (in more than just a guest return, that is), then maybe she can take maternity leave and be written out of the show for about the first half of season 5. For any of these first two options, you wouldn’t need to drastically alter the storylines for Brittany since she’s graduating anyway. Again, just look at Mercedes and Quinn — we’ve gotten used to not seeing them on a regular basis. Then during the latter half of the season when Morris is ready to return, the writers can start bringing her back into the picture and we’ll start finding out what’s been doing since graduation. Has she been studying at a top university after her high SAT scores? Will she now move to New York to try to hook up with Santana again?
Option 3: Glee Films Around Her Pregnancy
A third open is to just continue filming as planned. Part of her pregnancy will be spent during the summer hiatus when they’re not on set, so there won’t be a lot of time they would need to do tricky camera angles in order for us not to see her belly bump.
But even if she continues on as a full-time cast member, this begs the question: once she graduates, is there any point in Brittany being on Glee anymore? There are obvious reasons for keeping Rachel, Kurt and Santana around, not just because they’re popular, but it’s easy to create storylines for them. The same can’t really be said for Brittany S. Pierce. We much as we love the actress and character, it would almost be pointless to keep her around.
After a fan asked if Santana can sing Adele’s “Don’t You Remember” to Brittany, Ryan Murphy tweeted an interesting reply: “Wouldn’t you rather see Santana singing to a hot together girl in NY who could emotionally give her a real relationship? I do.”
It sounds like there’s no way Santana and Brittany are ever getting back together. So why keep Brittany on the show? The most likely option is that Heather Morris will be written off the show, and if the timing is right, she can come back for an episode or two, a la Mercedes.
How do you think Heather Morris‘ pregnancy will affect her role on Glee? Which of the above three options do you think will happen?
Glee airs Thursdays at 9pm on FOX.
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(Image courtesy of WENN)
Staff Writer, BuddyTV
Jeff Dodge, a graduate of Western Washington University, has been a TV news editor for many years and has had the chance to interview multiple reality show stars, including Randy Jackson, Nick Cannon, Heidi Klum, Mel B and John Cena.
