Spoiler alert: Spoilers for The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3 ahead. If you’re all caught up on TSITP, boy, do we have a lot to unpack. Episode 8 was full of jaw-dropping moments that had fans spiraling — but I couldn’t be the only one wondering where Belly’s friend Anika went. Like, is it just me, or did she just disappear from the whole wedding weekend out of nowhere?
Fans know Anika as Belly’s supportive and level-headed college friend. We were originally introduced to her at the beginning of Season 3, and she was there for Belly after she found out Jeremiah had cheated on her. And while she isn’t as “major” a character as Belly’s bestie Taylor, Anika was around for many of the big events of Season 3 — like the bridal shower, and that absolute mess of a bachelorette party.
So, when Episode 8 rolled around, fans were quick to notice that Anika barely appeared at all. Sure, she was there briefly when Jeremiah went missing, but other than that, it was as if she dipped out on the entire wedding weekend.
In the episode, Belly and Taylor go to the spa, where Anika is noticeably missing. (Apparently, she was getting a massage? They really just, like, slipped that in, huh.) Not only that, but viewers also pointed out that Anika wasn’t at the rehearsal dinner, in the bridal suite, or even in the background of the wedding venue. So, what gives?
On social media, TSITP fans are sharing their theories as to why Anika wasn’t around for the rest of the wedding weekend. And while some are totally logical, there are definitely some unhinged ideas that fans are putting forward.
Are Jeremiah & Anika hooking up in TSITP?
When I mentioned “unhinged,” I was thinking of this fan theory. Across social media platforms, fans of the show believe that Anika is missing because she’s (*checks notes*) cheating with Jeremiah behind Belly’s back?
This probably stems from a conversation that Jeremiah had with his father and Conrad in Episode 6, where he calls Anika “hot” in the car. Also, fans noticed that Anika wears a necklace with a gold key on it — which, given the fact that Jeremiah has given Belly two key-themed gifts, leads them to believe that Anika is the “key” Jeremiah is looking for. (FWIW, it doesn’t make sense to me either.) But, really, that’s it. And while we don’t know much about Anika as a character, she’s been incredibly loyal to Belly — so this storyline would kind of come out of nowhere.
The more logical reason Anika “disappeared”
Aside from the wild cheating theory, TSITP fans say that Anika was missing from the rest of the festivities because she isn’t a bridesmaid, which makes a bit more sense. However, she’s just one of the two friends Belly has at this point, and considering the fact that Jeremiah has several groomsmen along with two Best Men, it’s still weird that she wasn’t at the rehearsal dinner or the spa. But, hey, what do I know?
IRL Sunburn might be the reason Anika was missing from the episode
Fans also think that may have been an IRL issue that resulted in the actress who plays Anika, Sofia Bryant, to be absent from filming. In a Reddit post about Anika’s whereabouts, one fan wrote, “I think Sofia Bryant got a bad sunburn and had to be cut. She mentioned something about a sunburn in an interview, and then I remember she did some pickup filming well after wrap.”
The interview that the fan was referring to was most likely one posted by Teen Vogue from the show’s premiere in July 2025. In the video, a correspondent asks each cast member who their favorite “unhinged ship” from the show is, to which Bryant answers, “Anika and some damn sunscreen.”
She continued, “Anika, and more importantly, myself, got the worst sunburn of my adult life during Season 3, and I ship them.”