Christina Milian will take over Naya Rivera’s role in the Step Up TV series, US cable network Starz has announced.
Rivera, who previously starred in Glee, drowned in a boating accident in California last summer.
Milian will now take over playing her character, Collette Jones, for Step Up’s third season.
“I am so excited to join the Step Up family,” Milian said. “I know I have massive shoes to fill. Naya was incredible.”
She added: “I hope to honour Naya, her family, friends and fans with a great performance.”
Rivera, best known for playing cheerleader Santana Lopez on Glee, went missing during a boat trip with her four-year-old son at Lake Piru.
Her body was found following a five-day search. Rivera’s son, Josey, was unharmed.
The Ventura County Medical Examiner’s Office said the cause of death was accidental drowning.
Who is Christina Milian?
Younger fans of the popular dance series could be forgiven for never having heard of Milian before.
But for anyone above a certain age, Milian is the pop star who soundtracked many a school disco in the early noughties.
She had several massive hits – including AM to PM, When You Look At Me, Say I and Dip It Low, all of which reached the UK top five.
At the time, the world of female R&B was crowded thanks to a surge in popularity of the genre.
Milian was regularly seen at the top end of the charts alongside singers like Ashanti, Tweet, Brandy, Blu Cantrell and Mya.
What is Step Up?
The original Step Up film was released in 2006 during a popular period for dancing-based movies such as Save The Last Dance and Honey.
Step Up was a box office success, earning more than $114m (£83m) despite being made on a budget of $12m (£8.8m).
Its success predictably prompted several sequels – Step Up 2: The Streets, Step Up 3D, Step Up Revolution and Step Up: All In, all of which were box office hits.
The franchise expanded, and a Step Up television series – Step Up: High Water – premiered on YouTube.
The show was a reimagining of the films and set at a performing arts school in Atlanta, Georgia.
After two seasons, the show was cancelled, despite regularly attracting more than 50 million views per episode.
However, last year it was announced that US cable network Starz would pick the show up for a third season, which would drop the High Water from its name and be known solely as Step Up.
Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan, who co-starred in the original Step Up film in 2006, serve as executive producers on the TV show.
