If you’ve been dying to see Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni) and Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) still become an item in Law & Order: SVU, sorry that’s not happening anytime soon. Plus, there’s now a new contender who has grand plans to capture Benson’s heart, and it’s not anyone you’d expect. It’s no news that fans have always wanted Benson and Stabler to become romantically involved, considering their palpable connection throughout the years they’ve been partners. The duo partnered up to solve crimes for over a decade on SVU before Stabler exited as a lead after twelve seasons.

During a recent appearance on Today, an iconic pop star who previously gushed about SVU, her favorite show, on Amy Poehler’s Good Hang podcast, expressed her interest in portraying the lover of Hargitay’s character. As seen on TikTok, Reneé Rapp, who is taking an unofficial break from acting, was asked what character she would play if she had a guest–starring role in the procedural, and she answered:

“Let me tell ya, I would be Mariska Hargitay’s lover. She would be gay, finally. I would be her lover, and we would somehow get tangled in like an undercover kind of miss[ion], probably with a drug empire.”

Apparently, that’s the only role that can tempt Rapp away from her hiatus, and she even recalled that Benson’s sexual orientation had once been the topic of conversation on SVU. Referring to Season 11, Episode 13, the installment saw Benson ask Stabler if he ever gets “a gay vibe” from her. “Would it matter if I did?” Stabler replied, but his then-partner insisted, “You’re not answering the question.” “Well, it’s not like you’ve had a lot of luck with guys,” Stabler noted, to which Benson retorted, “It’s called being married to the job.”

‘Law & Order: SVU’ Returns This Fall

Earlier in May, SVU was renewed for a 27th season, which will premiere on September 25, as confirmed last month. The return update came just a week after production officially began on the season, which has already gone through some interesting changes. Aimé Donna Kelly has been promoted to series regular, joining Kelli Giddish as a re-enlisted series regular. A new showrunner, Michele Fazekas, has also been hired, after serving as both a writer and an executive producer from Seasons 3 through 7. On top of that, Juliana Aiden Martinez and Octavio Pisano have departed from the crime drama; however, we’ve learned that Pisano will at least be returning for the first episode of Season 27, after he was spotted in a video posted by Hargitay when production began.