Katie Stevens didn't want to tell 'the typical cheating story' on The Bold Type

Tiny Jane’s life is a bit of a mess right now. When The Bold Type wrapped its third season, not only was she dealing with the fact that Ryan kissed another woman while on his book tour, but the Scarlet newsroom was … empty? Needless to say, Jane has a lot of decisions to make when season 4 picks up, and it starts with figuring out how to move forward in her relationship.

“It was really important to me when talking with the writers that it wasn’t just the typical cheating story that we see all the time, which is that somebody cheats and then they break up,” Katie Stevens says. “Because I feel like a lot of people’s experience is that they stay together and try to work through it. And I do feel like sometimes the stories told on television and in movies inform what we think we should do in real life. That’s something that Jane has talked about — she says at the end of season 3, ‘If I broke up with you it would be because I felt like I had to based on what other people would say, but I need to do what’s right for me.’ And I thought that that was really powerful showcasing that. So we’re definitely going to see them working through that and how difficult that is for Jane to kind of get over.”

Then there’s another big relationship in Jane’s life that’s changing — her relationship with Jacqueline, who is no longer at Scarlet. And, according to Stevens, Jane is not coping well with Jacqueline’s absence. “She was a fan of Jacqueline’s before she ever worked there, and that’s been her mentor and the person that she’s been able to go to for guidance,” Stevens says, adding, “But even with her not at Scarlet, I think that Jacqueline and Jane have a relationship where Jacqueline will always be there for her for. I don’t think that there will ever be a time, whether Jacqueline is at Scarlet or not, that Jane wouldn’t go to her for guidance.”

The Bold Type returns for season 4 this Thursday on Freeform.

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