Forget Gossip Girl — BBC’s Explosive New Toxic Romance Drama Has Viewers Glued to Their Screens! The Dark, Addictive College Series Where Passion Turns Deadly, Secrets Shatter Lives, and Betrayal Becomes Inevitable — Fans Are Calling It ‘The Most Obsessive Love Story of the Year!’If you thought Gossip Girl had drama, think again — because the BBC’s latest hit just redefined toxic romance. Set against the backdrop of an elite British college, this scorching new series dives deep into the kind of love that burns too bright to last.He’s the golden boy everyone wants. She’s the outsider who refuses to play by the rules. Together, they ignite a dangerous game of power, jealousy, and forbidden desire — one that spirals into shocking betrayal and emotional devastation.Fans are bingeing it in one sitting, calling it “raw, intoxicating, and impossible to look away from.” Every episode peels back another layer of obsession, exposing how ambition and love can twist into something beautiful… and terrifying. Toxic love. Ruthless ambition. Shocking betrayal. This isn’t just a romance — it’s a collision course with heartbreak you won’t forget!

forget Gossip Girl, if you need a toxic new series on your watch list, then this dark college drama may be for you. Tell Me Lies, the series which first launched on Hulu in 2022, has dropped on BBC iPlayer, and fans are completely obsessed. The show is based on the Carola Lovering novel, and follows the turbulent, on-again, off-again relationship between college freshmen Lucy Albright and Stephen DeMarco over the course of eight years.  The series stars American actors Grace Van Patten as Lucy Albright and Jackson White as Stephen DeMarco – the two meet each other at the fictional New York school, Baird College. The BBC described the series on its website: “The one you’ll never forget. Toxic love, ruthless ambition and shocking betrayal. A passionate college relationship will have consequences they never could have imagined.”

And truer words have never been spoken as fans on social media are simply addicted to the gritty programme. “How bad is it that I absolutely cannot wait for these toxic people to return to my screen??” one fan said of the show. Meanwhile, a second penned: “MOOD. ready for my fav toxic show lol  #TellMeLies.” A third added: “IM ADDICTED PLEASE MORE 30 EPISODES.” If you’re new to the drama series, we have good news for you because you have two whole seasons to catch up on with a third season being confirmed back in 2024. However, the release date of the latest series isn’t set to be until 2026, and given that the UK is already getting the series months after they launch, it may be a while until us Brits get the latest instalment.

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On-screen and off-screen chemistry

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The leads of the show, Grace and Jackson, have unequivocal chemistry on screen, but took that spark to the next level when they started dating, although they kept the true nature of their relationship under wraps for a long time, despite hinting there was more going on. Eventually, in October 2022, Jackson quipped he had a “huge crush” on Grace while, on the Not Skinny But Not Fat podcast. The following month, the couple shared a photo of themselves kissing in a string of photbooth snaps, covering the moment they locked lips with an emoji. But it wasn’t long before they revealed their relationship to the world,  making their red carpet debut the following month at the 2022 CFDA Awards in New York.

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Talking about how their relationship started, Jackson’s mother, Katey Sagal, told Rachel Bilson on her  Broad Ideas podcast the couple had been dating for two years since they first met at the audition. “My son is on a television show, and his girlfriend is the lead [too]. They play love interests, and [they are dating in real life]. They have been for two years,” she shared, adding that they had been dating “since the audition.” She added: “They had such great chemistry.”