Christina Milian to take over Naya Rivera’s TV role after Glee star's tragic death

 Christina Milian to take over Naya Rivera’s TV role.

Christina Milian has vowed to 'honour' Naya Rivera after she steps into her role on the television series Step Up. The 39-year-old actress and singer is set to join the cast of Step Up playing the role of Collette Jones, that was originally played by Naya.

She said in a press release: "I am so excited to join the “Step Up” family. I know I have massive shoes to fill. Naya was incredible. I hope to honor Naya, her family, friends and fans with a great performance."

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While the Step Up producers have revealed that it was almost impossible to replace Naya, the show creator Holly Sorensen was confident that Christina would help honour the late star.

"Naya's death was a terrible loss to our world that we will, frankly, never stop mourning," Holly Sorensen added in the press release.

 Naya Rivera.

She continued: "It was almost impossible to consider there could be someone so graceful and loving who could both help us honor our loss, while also bringing a deep reservoir of talent to our show, in so many areas."

The Step Up series was acquired by Starz after season two, with production due to start around the time of Naya's death in July 2020. Filming was instead halted amid the tragic news that search teams had located Naya's body.

ALSO READ: Actress Naya Rivera pushed son into boat and shouted 'help' before drowning

Production on the third series will reportedly resume in 2021, with Christina joining the cast as well as Ne-Yo reprising his role of Sage Odom.

 Christina Milian.

Naya's tragic death in July 2020 sent shockwaves around the showbiz world, as Glee fans reeled from the devastating news. At the start of January 2021, Naya's co-stars rallied once again to pay tribute to the star on what would have been her 34th birthday.