The Bold Type Boss Says Kat and Adena's Relationship Will Be Tested in Season 2

The Bold Type returns for its second season this week (one of two ordered when it was renewed by Freeform last year), and we're happy to confirm it's just as hilarious, emotional and topical as ever. We have its new showrunner Amanda Lasher to thank for that, and it seems she's hit the ground running creating fabulous new stories for our three bold ladies.

Kat (Aisha Dee), Jane (Katie Stevens) and Sutton (Meghann Fahy) have officially scattered when Season 2 picks up, with Sutton slaving away in the fashion department, Kat returning from a whirlwind trip with Adena (Nikohl Boosheri), and Jane working at an entirely new outlet called Incite. You'll wish you were part of their epic group hug when they finally reunite, but the good times don't roll forever.

TV Guide spoke with Lasher to find out what new bumps in the road are in store for all three girls when Season 2 premieres.

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Being the new showrunner for The Bold Type, how did you balance honoring what the show was in Season 1 while also adding your own voice to it?
Amanda Lasher: I have the advantage of coming on to the show as a huge fan of it, so I really feel like the heart and soul of the show are these three women and their friendships. So that for me was the number-one thing; to continue that and the positive messages that the show has. In terms of what I wanted to do, I wanted to just go deeper with each girl and their backstory and where they come from and who they are.

The Bold Type tackles so many current events and issues, do you guys ever worry about falling into an "issue of the week" format?
Lasher: We try to be really mindful of that and ground the issues in each person's personal backstory as much as possible. Because we do feel that these issues do intersect in all of our lives, and so that just felt like the most organic way to explore them. It's such a huge opportunity to have these young women who are so engaged explore these topics through their eyes.

What sort of struggles will Jane be facing, personally and professionally, now that she's left Scarlet for Incite?
Lasher: Jane is going to face failure for the first time in her life and see what it's like to fall down hard and publicly and then have to pick yourself up and realize that maybe it's not the worst thing to fail and that you can actually get something out of it.

What can you preview about Jane's new love interest, Ben (Luca James Lee)?
Lasher: Jane is dating a doctor named Ben Chau, who she meets when she does a story on him. She is going to find herself very torn between Ben and her growing friendship with Pinstripe.

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Where do Sutton and Richard (Sam Page) stand when we find them in Season 2?
Lasher: When Season 2 starts, Sutton and Richard all of the sudden find that the obstacle to their relationship, which was that it had to be secret, is removed and they have to decide whether or not they want to move forward knowing now that they could and what the implications of that would be.

Most of Kat and Adena's obstacles thus far have been external, will they face any internal obstacles this season?
Lasher: That was something that we were really excited about. We wanted to see what it would be like for Kat and Adena once all those obstacles were removed and they were actually be in a relationship and get to know each other for an extended period of time. We're going to see what it's like for Kat to be in a relationship for the first time, to be in love for the first time, to explore her sexuality for the first time. And then also what it's like for one of these girls to be in a serious relationship where she's actually going to be bringing that partner around more.

How will Kat deal with some of the identity issues she'll be presented with this year?
Lasher: We're going to meet Kat's parents, and we're going to learn more about her racial identity and where she gets her sense of self. With Adena, [Kat] fell in love with Adena because she loved Adena, but she'd never been with a woman before, so her sexual identity - she's only explored it in a relationship, whereas Adena has been in lots of relationship and been with lots of women, so that's going to be something they're going to have to contend with in their relationship this year.

We'll also get a new board member for Scarlet this year, what will she be like and how will Jacqueline (Melora Hardin) deal with that change?
Lasher: Jacqueline's been pushing really hard to have a female board member, and we get one but just because someone's a woman doesn't mean that their values always line up with yours. We have so many positive examples of women supporting women on the show, and we love that, but we wanted to see how you handle it when maybe somebody doesn't have the same values as you but not fall into the idea of a cliché women vs. woman notion.

The Bold Type's 2-hour premiere begins Tuesday, June 12 at 8/7c on Freeform.