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Riverdale's Skeet Ulrich and Marisol Nichols Are Leaving the Show


At this point, Riverdale fans are used to the wild turns in the show’s plots. From demonic possessions to Archie’s turn in a prison fight club, the CW show is not afraid to get weird on the regular.

Now, another twist is coming by way of two season one cast members leaving the show at the end of the current fourth season. Skeet Ulrich, who plays Jughead’s dad F.P. Jones, and Marisol Nichols, who stars as Veronica’s mom Hermione Lodge, are both set to depart. In a statement to Deadline, Ulrich said, “I’m incredibly grateful for the friendships I’ve made on Riverdale, and I will miss seeing everyone on a daily basis. I’m proud to have been part of such a talented group of people, in front of the camera and behind. But I’ve decided that it’s time for me to move on to explore other creative opportunities.”

The actor also posted about his departure on Instagram. “I can’t even begin to thank you all for the unwavering support and love!! It is remarkable and deeply appreciated. I may be leaving Riverdale but my experience over the last four years will never leave my heart. A very special thanks to @writerras for giving me this opportunity ❤️”

“I had an incredible time bringing Hermione Lodge to life and working with my amazing cast, who became family,” Nichols said in a statement. “We had so many wonderful times together during the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. We really do have the best fans ever. I am looking forward to the next chapter and am excited about the future.”

“Okay, it’s official,” she wrote on Twitter. “Best fans ever. Been reading all ur tweets. Tku for the love & support. We’re still filming Riverdale till April so still more to come, and then 1 month till #spiral #saw movie comes out! Beyond excited. Nothing but ❤️ for all of u.?”

While it’s not yet clear how the characters will be written off, Riverdale‘s creator made it clear this is just how things go on the show. “Part of life in Riverdale—and part of growing up—is saying goodbye to people,” Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa told Deadline. “I’m grateful to Skeet and Marisol for their incredible work on the show these last four years, and we all wish them well on their future endeavors. FP and Hermione will never be far from our hearts. And, of course, they’re always welcome back in Riverdale.”

Riverdale has already been renewed for a fifth season.



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Paralympian Alana Nichols Is Facing Her Biggest Challenge Yet: Motherhood as a Disabled Woman


Few could accomplish all that Alana Nichols has: At the age of 36, she’s won three gold medals, traveled the world, had the honor of meeting three presidents, and even become the first female American to win gold in both the summer and winter games, adding the title “history-maker” to her impressive resume. And she did it all from a wheelchair.

Nichols grew up in a small New Mexico town playing sports. By the time she was in high school, she was intent on pursuing athletics professionally, hoping to attend college on a softball scholarship. But during her senior year, Nichols had a snowboarding accident, falling on a rock. She was paralyzed on impact.

Nichols’ plan for her future was snatched away in a second. Just 17, she was left lying in a hospital bed with nothing but time to think. What would she do with her life now? How would she readjust and move forward? “If there was ever a physical feat in front of me that I was presented with, I knew that if I took the right steps, built the right muscle, developed the right skill set, I would be able to accomplish that,” she says. “So, after I became disabled, it was just a matter of time before I became introduced to wheelchair basketball [and adaptive sports].”

As a woman with a disability—even one who’s won gold for her athletic ability—Nichols is used to stigma. “I had to shift my mindset from society’s attitude towards people with disabilities that we’re less than,” she says. But not even her gold medals have inoculated her against the stigmas attached to her next challenge: motherhood as a disabled woman.

A mother in a wheelchair can still take her child for a walk, to playdates, to the park and catch them at the bottom of a slide—but many people seem to believe that because of the limitations those with physical disabilities have, they might be unfit moms. “I travel the world in a wheelchair and ski at 70 miles per hour: How am I not going to be a parent?” she says. If anything, it’s the parenting community that has limitations: Something as simple as the way cribs are designed is restrictive to women who can’t stand to pick their baby up from above.

After she was paralyzed, Nichols spent years familiarizing herself with and learning how to move within her body. And as a professional athlete, she trained just as hard—if not harder—than her able-bodied counterparts, learning to overcome every unexpected challenge her body threw at her. “Parenting is about overcoming each challenge as it’s presented, and we’re kind of masters at that as adaptive athletes. You can’t imagine how you’re going to do it: You just have to go and do it,” she says. “That brings me a lot of solace as a pregnant woman knowing that there’s no way to know how I’ll figure out how to parent, but I will. Instead of deciding what I can and can’t do, how about just being open-minded to the possibilities.”

Gianluca Russo is a New York-based freelance writer published in GQ, Teen Vogue, NYLON and more. Follow him @g_russo1.



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