There is new information on the intriguing new role of Hayley (Toks Olagundoye) in season 8 of ABC's Castle.

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Hayley has previously been announced as a security specialist who joins the team in season 8. A TVLine report stated that she will be spending a lot of time with Castle (Nathan Fillion), leading some worried fans to assume the worst. However, new Castle co-showrunner Alexi Hawley recently clarified that she is not meant to serve as competition for Beckett (Stana Katic).

"For us, her character was never meant to be competition," Hawley told Entertainment Weekly in a new report. "She's a strong, powerful, beautiful, independent woman and she adds a flavor of that into the show, but is not - in any way shape or form - competition for Beckett."

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Fellow showrunner Terence Paul Winter added, "She has a very different perspective on how she attacks cases different from Beckett, which is going to create some fun tension."

It remains to be seen if Hayley will be teaming up with Castle in any way. It has already been announced that Beckett will become the new captain of the 12th precinct, replacing Captain Gates (Penny Johnson Jerald). So Castle and Beckett's time out in the field might be limited.

However, the new showrunners have said on multiple occasions that they are ready to shake things up, so we'll see the extent of that this fall.

Castle season 8 premieres Monday, Sept. 21 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.

Tags: Castle television ABC