BROOKE QUESTIONS ALEX’S MOTIVES — Haley (Bethany Joy Galeotti) is thrust into the spotlight and storm of Nathan’s (James Lafferty) growing scandal. Against her better judgement, Brooke (Sophia Bush) allows Julian (Austin Nichols) to continue working with Alex (Jana Kramer “Entourage”). Millicent (Lisa Goldstein) gets a new job, which may cause trouble for Mouth (Lee Norris). Meanwhile, Clay (Robert Buckley) and Quinn (Shantel VanSanten) grow closer. Paul Johansson also stars. Peter B. Kowalski directed the episode written by Mark Schwahn (#705).

Download “Your Cheatin’ Heart” Episode Free

Earlier today, The CW announced it has picked up
One Tree Hill for a full season.

To many fans of the show, this is exciting for one huge reason: more Robert Buckley!

The former Lipstick Jungle star has come aboard the long-time series in the role of Clay. In an exclusive interview, he tells TV Fanatic about joining the cast, as well as not wearing a shirt…

TV Fanatic: Are you wearing a shirt right now?
Robert Buckley: Yes.

TV Fanatic: Does it ever bother you that you’re almost as well known for your literal body of work as for your acting skills?
Buckley: No, because it was never to the detriment of my performance. Going back to Lipstick Jungle, I know I received compliments on the superficial, so to speak, but it was never said in a way that implied I lacked talent as an actor.
That being said, I knew I wanted a new role that was more than just the half-naked, cabana boy. You’ll see me in a lot more clothing on One Tree Hill.

TV Fanatic: You’ve come aboard a long-running show and sort of replaced one of its bigger stars, Chad Michael Murray. Have you felt any pressure in that regard?
Buckley: I never looked at it that way. The show jumped ahead 14 months, so Lucas and Peyton had a child and left; it was a natural course of events.
A lot can happen in real life in a year’s time, so there’s wasn’t pressure to fill anyone’s shoes. The storyline made sense that I wouldn’t be treated as a replacement.

TV Fanatic: Did it help that you weren’t the only new cast member this season? (Jana Kramer and Shantel VanSanten are also new regulars.)
Buckley: I felt self-imposed pressure because the show has been a success for six years. I felt like the new kid in school, but I buddied up quickly with Shanel. We were like the two kids not sitting at the cool table at lunch.
I didn’t know anyone else in the cast at first, but everyone was so warm and welcoming.

TV Fanatic: How did you approach the role of a sports agent? That profession doesn’t have the best reputation.
Buckley: I said right away that I had no interest in playing Clay as the stereotypical, one-note agent. Someone with no redeeming qualities gets old really fast.
To prepare, I actually watched a movie I already loved: Glengarry Glen Ross. It helped give me an idea of how to argue and how to go head-to-head against someone.

TV Fanatic: Can you give us any One Tree Hill spoilers.
Buckley: We’ve already alluded to a mystery in Clay’s past. In the first episode, he said he doesn’t believe in love. That’s an interesting statement. It will be explained more over the next five episodes. Viewers will find out more about who Clay really is. Why is he in Tree Hill and not Los Angeles?

The bad girl is back in town. Next week on “One Tree Hill“, Rachel Gatina will mess up somebody’s life with her eccentricities. A preview has been released for the episode which is titled “What Are You Willing to Lose” and it also shows the first look of India de Beaufort as Miranda Stone, the new record executive.

Also in the episode, Brooke looks for a model as the new face of Clothes Over Bros. Mia and Haley fall short of selling a million records while Dan finds a confidant in an unlikely person. Nathan deals with being distant from the ones he loves and Clayton reminds him he’s in the NBA. And Tree Hill is shaken up again, when death comes on their way.

The seventh season officially kicked off on Monday, September 14. With the departures of Chad Michael Murray and Hilarie Burton, the show is taking in new cast including Robert Buckley and Shantel VanSanten who play Nathan’s sport agent and Haley’s sister respectively.

Korbi Ghosh from Zap2it got talk with one of the new girls, Shantel VanSanten who will be appearing on the upcoming 7th season of CW’s “One Tree Hill” as Haley’s sister who is a photographer. Shantel spoke a bit about how her and Haley’s relationship will be on the show.

She said, “yes, I play Haley’s older sister. I’m a photographer. And I think we both have that artistic side. Her being a singer, we have that same mentality in common and I think we’ve always been close for that reason.

But I got married when I was younger, so I have a whole other relationship and whole other life. I come back to Tree Hill just like a lot of people go home to kind of figure life out. And I think that Haley becomes my best friend, the person that I would call about everything.”

She then commented on how her character will allow us to see a different side of Haley that we’ve never seen before. She stated,“Yeah, I think that it’s fun to bring Haley’s sister in, because you end up seeing a different side of Haley.

You know what I mean? You’ll see different things you maybe wouldn’t have seen before because her sister’s around and there’s that sister bond and you tell each other secrets and expose things you wouldn’t have otherwise.

Me and my own sister are so close and Joy talked to me about it, she wanted to know what my relationship with her was like and we discussed little ticks that sisters have and it’s really been awesome. She’s awesome to work with.”

Next, Shantel shares how she arrives in town,and what her reasons are for coming. She said, “I come for Jamie’s birthday. But I think when you’re in your 20s, you go through stuff. Is my life going in the right direction? Am I doing the right thing? Is this what I want for the rest of my life, with everything, you question your job, your love life. So I think maybe she comes to town trying to figure some things out and through her relationship with her sister and everybody else in Tree Hill, hopefully she’ll find the answers.”

She also talks about collaborating with Brooke Davis (Sophia Bush) on the show. She said, “I get to collaborate with Sophia’s character Brooke, because she has a clothing line. There are a lot of relationships that she gets to come back to and be a part of that world.”

Then Mark Schwahn,one of the show’s writers jumped in and commented on if Haley’s sister might have a love interest on the show even though she’s married. He said, “I’ve never endorsed that. But, having said that, if issues arise in her marriage, then that is interesting to me. If someone is genuinely not happy in their marriage, when is it okay to start looking elsewhere?

I don’t know if that’s necessarily the road we’ll go down with Shantel’s character, Quinn, but as a storyline and as drama for the show, I think that’s interesting. “

The 7th season of “One Tree Hill” is set to premiere Monday September 14,2009 at 7pm central time on the CW.

“ONE TREE HILL” — (8:00-9:00 p.m. ET)
“4:30 a.m. (Apparently They Were Traveling Abroad)” (TV-14, DS) (HDTV)

ONE TREE HILL RETURNS WITH SOME NEW FACES — Nathan (James Lafferty) learns of a shocking accusation that could threaten his career, much to the chagrin of his sports agent Clay (new series regular Robert Buckley, “Lipstick Jungle”). Brook (Sophia Bush) prepares to launch a new fashion line, and Julian (Austin Nichols) decides to produce a big movie. Haley’s (Bethany Joy Galeotti) sister Quinn (new series regular Shantel VanSanten, “The Final Destination”) makes a surprise visit. Meanwhile, Jamie (Jackson Brundage) celebrates his 7th birthday. Paul Johansson, Lee Norris, Antwon Tanner, and Lisa Goldstein also star. Clark Mathis directed the episode written by Mark Schwahn (#701).

Download “4:30 a.m” Episode Right Now!

Brooke Davis and Julian Baker are not the only ones hooking up for One Tree Hill season 7. Their real-life counterparts, Sophia Bush, 27, and Austin Nichols, 29, have rekindled their off-screen romance recently, and have taken their affair to the East Coast.

The One Tree Hill couple, who started dating in 2006 and split earlier this year, were spotted last week sharing a cold dessert together at Soho’s Pop Yogurt. They also dined at Georgica Restaurant and Lounge in East Hampton on Friday. And while neither party has confirmed the sweet reunion, an eyewitness told RadarOnline.com that they were very much a couple.

“Sophia and Austin were with their three friends but they may as well have been on their own. They were very affectionate with each other. They were cuddled close together all night, sneaking kisses and acting very loving. There was lots of hand holding and Austin spent much of the night rubbing Sophia’s thigh. There’s no doubting they are together romantically, they look crazy in love and they make a really cute couple! They must really like the restaurant because they came back the next night, just the two of them,” the eyewitness said.

Seeing Bush and Nichols hooking up isn’t really that surprising. Bush seems to have that charming personality that easily attracts the people she works with, beginning with Chad Michael Murray —her One Tree Hill co-star whom she married in 2005 and divorced a year later, co-star James Lafferty — a relationship she denied though Murray confirmed the romance, and now with Austin Nichols.

Meanwhile, their on-screen counterparts’ fiery relationship seems to be going strong when One Tree Hill kicks off its seventh season on September 14. And if you want to learn more about them, check out these photos:

One Tree Hill creator Mark Schwann, original cast member Sophia Bush, and newcomer Shantel VanSanten recently dished to Zap2it about what we can expect when the series returns in a couple of weeks. The short answer: A lot.

Mark talked about reinventing the show, as well as what it’s like without Chad Michael Murray, while Sophia hinted at the future for her alter ego Brooke Davis.

In the excerpts below, the three offer some insight on the upcoming Season Seven and reveal some juicy One Tree spoilers to whet our collective appetites.

On whether Julian (Nichols) can make Brooke (Sophia) happy this year: “Well, there are issues for everybody,” Sophia Bush said. “One of the things that we have to deal with in our relationship is the distance and, you know, you’re in your late 20s and, is this it or is it not?”

“They’re very real questions that everybody asks themselves at that age point, but it’s really fun and there is a lot of love between [Brooke and Julian]. It’s very cool.”

On not having Hilarie and Chad around for the first time since 2003: “You know, it’s different, but it doesn’t feel strange,” Bush said. “Actually, it feels pretty amazing to go to work every day and we’re so lucky to have these new cast members and everybody else is still around.”

On the One Tree Hill quotes that happen off-camera: “You know, it’s Rob and Shantel and Austin and we still have Lisa [Goldstein (Millicent)] and Antwon [Tanner (Skills)] and Allison [Munn (Lauren)] and Lee Norris (Mouth) and Jackson [Brundage (Jamie)] is obviously still there, Jana Kramer is working with us for a while and she’s amazing, so many wonderful people.”

“So it doesn’t feel empty whatsoever. It’s a full house and everybody’s laughing on set all day and the energy is really incredible.”

On Chad and Hilarie leaving being blessing in disguise as far as storylines go: “I think we had a wonderful six years together, but I think that when you’re heading into episode 130, anytime you can find new adrenaline and new energy, it is a good thing for the show,” Mark Schwann admits. “I have to tell you that the writers room is invigorated and excited to tell stories about new characters. And when they see the talent that we’ve put in these new roles, everybody is inspired.”

On what’s next for Nathan and Haley: “In my mind, Nathan and Haley have always been a cornerstone of the show. The fan base is so faithful and so important to [One Tree Hill].”

“But at the same time, they’re either unhappy that there’s disorder in Nathan and Haley’s relationship or they’re unhappy that it’s calm. There’s never a time when they’re all happy with what’s happening with those two. Either Haley doesn’t have a big enough storyline or there’s too much drama or, when there’s a cease fire, it’s like they have nothing to do. But it’s okay because, in my mind, over the length of the show, it’s been the best relationship.”

Episode 7.01 - 4:30 AM (Apparenetly They Were Travelling Abroad)
The tree hill gang must learn that to live an exceptional life doesn’t end once you’ve achieved your goals. With Lucas and Peyton gone, Nathan’s a year into his NBA career, Haley has taken over Red Bedroom Records, and has to deal with the return of her free-spirited 26 year-old sister, Quinn. Brooke is still happy with Julian.

Episode 7.02 - What Are You Willing to Lose
Brooke looks for a model as the new face of Clothes Over Bros. Mia and Haley fall short of selling a million records. Dan finds a confidant in an unlikely person. Nathan deals with being distant from the ones he loves, while Clayton reminds him he’s in the NBA. Tree Hill’s former bad girl - Rachel Gatina returns. And Tree Hill is shaken up again, when death comes on their way.

Episode 7.03 - Hold My Hand as I’m Lowered
Funeral of a tree hill resident. Nathan comes home for the funeral. Dan shows up to pays his respects. Nathan, Jamie, and Haley visit Quentin’s grave. Quinn goes to Tric and meets a guy. Julian gets hit on by Alexis, Mouth gets a job offer for a news station in New York.

Episode 7.01 - 4:30 AM (Apparenetly They Were Travelling Abroad
Episode 7.02 - What Are You Willing to Lose
Episode 7.03 - Hold My Hand As I’m Lowered
Episode 7.04 - Believe Me, I’m Lying (Forever The Sickest Kids)
Episode 7.05 - Your Cheatin’ Heart (Hank Williams)
Episode 7.06 - Deep Ocean Vast Sea

Episode 7.07 - I and Love and You