One Tree Hill Fans Aren't Buying Hilarie Burton's Reason For Stepping Back From the Drama Queens Podcast

glamour.com:

podcast? Many One Tree Hill fans don't think the DQ podcast co-hosts are being entirely truthful about the reason behind her departure.On July 7, former costars , , and revealed that they are bringing in a “new queen” as they begin recapping seasons seven through nine of their , which ran on the CW from 2003-2012.

Burton's character, Peyton Sawyer, no longer appears on One Tree Hill after season six, so an exit—or, at least, a step back—makes sense.

From here on out, Bush and Lenz will be joined by actor Robert Buckley, who joined the series in season seven as sports agent Clay Evans in 2009.“We have reached the end of my behind-the-scenes experience on the show, and so I really started to question what I brought to this, but also how we keep that storytelling alive and important,” Burton explained in the . “And so as we head into seasons seven through nine, it was important that we introduced a new queen who could take over for me."While Burton, who also serves as an executive producer on the podcast, plans to “pop in here and there,” her exit signals the end of an era for listeners, who've been tuning into the trio's recaps since June 2021.

Even so, many fans have been themselves for this announcement for months—and not just because of Burton's exit after the season six finale, titled, "Remember Me as a Time of Day."The Drama Queens podcast hosts don't follow each other on social media…and that's not all.Back in March, fans noticed that Burton and Lenz did not follow each other on Instagram, despite both following Bush.