Amber Riley rejected “Glee” scene where her character loses her virginity to Sam: 'Absolutely not'

"It would’ve been so awkward."

A sex scene between Sam and Mercedes? Amber Riley said hell to the no. 

The Glee alum revealed on a recent episode of the And That’s What You Missed podcast that she once vetoed a scene in which her character Mercedes lost her virginity to boyfriend Sam (Chord Overstreet) during the show. 

“I told [Glee co-creator] Brad [Falchuk], ‘Absolutely not,'" Riley told former costars Jenna Ushkowitz and Kevin McHale on the podcast, noting that she only found out about the scene after Falchuk “gave me the blue pages.” She added, “It was written. I said, ‘No.’”

The actress said Falchuk attempted to salvage the scene by pitching an alternative take. “He said, ‘Okay, well, what if, instead of…’ because it was like a full-blown scene, [so I said], ‘No, I’m not doing it,’” she recalled. “He said, ‘Well, what if we just, you know, have you guys hold hands and walk into the room and then like close the door?’”

But she wasn’t interested in going down that road either. “I was just like, ‘No,’” she said. ‘I’m not doing it. I don’t ever tell you guys ‘no.’ I don’t fight about anything… But, this?! It would’ve been so awkward and I feel like it would’ve read awkward.”

Riley explained that she felt the idea of Mercedes — who was a devout Christian and professed on the show that she was saving herself for marriage — suddenly deciding to have sex was just not “what my character would’ve done.”

“I just didn’t feel that way,” she continued. “It had already been done. Let her stick to her guns if that’s what she’s saying that she [wanted to do].”

Riley noted that she was also concerned about the precedent that the scene would set for younger audiences watching Glee at the time, too.

“I mean, I grew up the church girl. It just wouldn’t happen. Like, not at that age, you know what I’m saying? Not that easily,” she said. “And then being pressured and all that kind of stuff — and doing it for someone else when it’s not really what you really believe — the message that I felt that that would’ve sent to young girls wouldn’t have been great.”

Mercedes and Sam had an on-and-off relationship that began in the series’ season 2 finale. The pair broke up and got back together multiple times, before ultimately deciding that they were better off as friends in season 5.

Listen to Riley discuss the rejected scene in the podcast above.

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