February is shaping up to be a rare kind of win month for Solo Leveling fans: not a vague tease, not a merch drop, but a real new way to stay inside Jinwoo’s world while everyone waits for concrete movement on a third anime season.

The franchise has been expanding fast, sometimes in directions that feel adjacent to core anime fandom, but this particular update lands where the appetite is strongest: more story, more momentum, and a format you can jump into immediately without that whole rewatch homework. The audio drama has been rolling out since mid-2025, and it’s built as a premium, full-cast style production with a high-profile lead performance, exactly the kind of adaptation that can carry tension, humor, and power-scaling without needing animation to do the heavy lifting. As per ScreenRant, the audio drama currently sits at 648,000+ plays, which is a strong signal the audience isn’t “niche” at all, it’s just been underserved.

And now, to double down on it, Pocket FM is officially releasing the English version of Solo Leveling Season 2 audio drama on Monday, February 16, 2026. The production is described as a collaboration with K-audio producer Soundist Entertainment, and the English lead is Yuri Lowenthal as Sung Jinwoo. The simplest thing to do now, therefore, is to open Pocket FM anytime after February 16, find the Solo Leveling audio drama page, and you’re set — new season, same obsession, no waiting for court announcements or manga frustrations with abrupt endings.

‘Solo Leveling: Ragnarok’s Month-Old Surprise Finale Has Fans in Limbo

Image via Pocket FM

Back in January, Solo Leveling: Ragnarok abruptly capped Season 2 at Chapter 68 after D&C Media confirmed the early finale on X, an unexpected stop given how much shorter Season 2 was than Season 1. JIN then revealed inside the chapter that he’s stepping away for mandatory military service in South Korea, framing it as a pause and thanking readers after a four-year run that began with side stories and continued through Ragnarok. Jang Sung-rak (DUBU)’s legacy also looms large, with the publisher saying illustration duties will move to a successor trained in that lineage, while writer Brix remains attached. As of February 13, there’s still no firm return date, though Tapas has acknowledged the Season 2 hiatus publicly.

Solo Leveling audio drama will be available in English on Pocket FM starting February 16, 2026. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.

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Release Date

2024 – 2025-00-00

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Network

Tokyo MX, Gunma TV, BS11, Tochigi TV

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Directors

Tatsuya Sasaki, Toru Hamasaki

Writers

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Shigeru Murakoshi, Shingo Irie, Fuka Ishii

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• 
• 

  Genta Nakamura

  Yoo Jin-ho

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Selling Sunset star Jason Oppenheim and Jessica Vargas have parted ways.

“We’re no longer boyfriend and girlfriend … but still love each other and still best friends,” Oppenheim, 48, wrote over a black-and-white Instagram Story pic of the former couple on Sunday, February 15.

Vargas, meanwhile, reposted the image and added, “Love you J & may this type of friendship find us all.”

Oppenheim and Vargas — a realtor associate at Jason’s Oppenheim Group brokerage — also sent joint statements to People on Sunday, February 15, while attending a wedding together in Hawaii.

Related: Chrishell Stause Shares Her Thoughts on Ex Jason Oppenheim’s New Girlfriend

Chrishell Stause is sharing her candid thoughts about her ex Jason Oppenheim’s new girlfriend, Jessica Vargas. “Oh, I’ve met her,” Chrishell, 43, exclusively told Us Weekly on Friday, April 25, while attending the opening weekend of the Tryst Puerto Vallarta in Mexico. “She’s really sweet. She’s lovely.” When asked if she would share with Us […]

“Jessica is the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met, inside and out, and while we won’t be husband and wife, we will be best friends,” Oppenheim shared. “Having her in my life is what matters most.”

Vargas added, “Jason and I have a lot of love for each other, and that’s not going anywhere. The best outcome for us is staying close and remaining in each other’s lives as best friends. He’s truly a gem of a human with the biggest heart, and I’m grateful for him.”

Oppenheim and Vargas made their relationship red carpet official in April 2025. Later that month, Oppenheim’s ex-girlfriend Chrishell Stause weighed in on his new romance. (Oppenheim and Stause, now 44, went public with their romance in 2021 before calling it quits later that year. She has since moved on with Australian artist G Flip, with whom she tied the knot in 2023.)

“Oh, I’ve met her,” Stause exclusively told Us Weekly at the time of Vargas. “She’s really sweet. She’s lovely.”

When asked if she would share her reaction to learning that her ex was dating another real estate agent, Stause replied, “Oh, they’re not going to want me to answer all these.”

Months later, Oppenheim appeared on Selling the OC star Alex Hall’s “Pretty Dirty” podcast and gushed that their connection began when the pair were just friends.

“We were best friends before and I think because I was previously in a relationship and we were just friends, we were able to really get to know each other. We were just authentically raw,” Vargas said, while Oppenheim added, “And we really got along and hung out and laughed.”

Oppenheim went on to reveal it’s his “plan” to tie the knot with Vargas — after previously sharing he didn’t intend on getting married in the future.

“That’s true,” he confessed when Hall pointed out his change of heart in the December 2025 episode. “I even told her when we were friends. I’m like, ‘No, I’m not going to get married.’ I didn’t see it.”

While Oppenheim changed his tune on saying “I do,” he explained that he’s still content with his stance on not being a father. Vargas, meanwhile, is also not interested in parenthood.

“That’s another reason why we super connected,” Vargas said during the podcast episode. “We just see eye to eye on all the things. ‘I don’t want kids. I want to do what I want.’ We were just back and forth.”

Meghan Markle couldn’t keep her hands off her husband, Prince Harry, during an appearance at the NBA All-Star Game.

As they sat courtside inside Inglewood, California’s Intuit Dome on Sunday, February 15, Markle, 44, held onto Harry’s leg and grasped his hand. Dressed in a navy sweater and navy trousers, she beamed alongside Harry, 41, throughout the game which resulted in Team Stars defeating Team Stripes 47-21.

Their loved-up display was also captured via an X video shared by the league’s official account. In the clip, Markle was seen lovingly stroking Harry’s arm to indicate that they were being filmed before the pair waved enthusiastically to the camera.

At one stage, Markle and Harry were seen huddled up together as she linked an arm within his.

The pair were joined by a string of celebrity guests who also sat courtside at the game including Queen Latifah, who was seated right beside Markle, and former President Barack Obama and wife Michelle Obama.

The duo’s public outing comes one day after Markle shared a sweet Instagram photo of Harry cradling daughter, Lilibet, to mark Valentine’s Day. Offering a rare glimpse at the four-year-old’s side profile, Markle captioned the snap, “These two + Archie = my forever Valentines.” (Markle and Harry also share a son, Archie, 6.)

Markle has seemingly felt candid across various aspects of her personal life lately, with the lifestyle influencer offering a rare glimpse inside her family’s luxurious Montecito, California, abode earlier this month. Sharing an Instagram Story on February 5, Markle was filmed walking into a home office to deliver Harry a package of As Ever chocolates. (As Ever is Markle’s culinary lifestyle brand.)

The video showed Harry greeting Markle as she handed him one of her treats. “Oh, yes, please. Thank you, love you,” he said in response. (As Ever recently launched its White Chocolate & Flower Sprinkles Duo product, which combines Compartés’ signature chocolate creations with the company’s famed dried edible flower petals that resemble sprinkles.)

The footage also revealed details of the plush space itself, which featured a wooden desk decorated with candles and a white dresser which held a variety of family photos, a framed illustration of two pandas cuddling, and a board of crests.

Related: Meghan Markle Documents Sweet Dodgers ‘Date Night’ With Prince Harry

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Meghan Markle is giving fans an insight into her sweet date night with husband Prince Harry. The Duchess of Sussex, 44, and Harry, 41, supported the Los Angeles Dodgers during Game 4 of the World Series on Tuesday, October 28, as the Dodgers took on the Toronto Blue Jays at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, […]

Markle and Harry have made multiple joint public appearances in 2026, with the couple turning up to the Sundance Film Festival together to attend the premiere of the documentary Cookie Queens. Staged at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center in Salt Lake City, on January 25, the event saw the duo dressed casually as they posed for photos on the red carpet.

The pair’s joint production company, Archewell Productions, coproduced the film, which explores the renowned Girl Scout cookie sales season. “Captivating, candid and full of heart, the film follows four girls ages five to 12 and their families as they navigate the annual whirlwind of selling, striving and succeeding,” a film description read, per Deadline. “For these Girl Scouts, selling cookies isn’t just about Thin Mints and sisterhood — it’s a crash course in entrepreneurship. Behind the smiles and cookie boxes lie real pressure: long hours, ambitious sales goals and the weight of high expectations.”

Golfer Collin Morikawa has multiple things to celebrate after winning the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

When asked why the moment was “so special” with wife Katherine Zhu after the win on Sunday, February 15 — his first victory on Tour in over two years — Morikawa, 29, replied, “A lot of reasons.”

“Putting golf aside, we are actually expecting later this year, in a few months. We just started telling people this week,” he told CBS Sports’ Amanda Balionis while smiling. “We said what a better way, the best way, to just announce it to the world if I was able to come out and win.”

He continued, “There’s so much to life. There’s so much to enjoy. I’m hard on myself, like I talked about yesterday. I’m just so thankful for the people around me. My team, Kat, my wife, my parents, my brother. I’m speechless right now.”

Related: A Hole-in-1 Kinda Love! Collin Morikawa, Wife Katherine’s Romance Timeline

They found a fairway to heaven! Professional golfer Collin Morikawa has a special support system in his wife, Katherine Zhu. “She’s been amazing. I’m so lucky to have her,” Morikawa gushed during an August 2020 interview with the Golf Channel’s “Golf Central” broadcast. “Kat’s been by my side through it all. She would hate me if […]

Morikawa and Zhu, a marathon runner and former golfer, tied the knot in 2022. Three years later, Morikawa admitted it can be “very hard” to focus on anything other than golf when things aren’t going his way.

“Golf is a big part of my life and who I am,” Morikawa exclusively told Us Weekly in 2025. “When it’s going great, it’s very easy to be able to separate yourself. But when it’s not going as well, your mind is constantly thinking about golf. ‘How do I keep getting better?’ Because that’s the chase. That’s what we’re all trying to accomplish: getting better every single day. ‘How do we keep improving? What do I need to do in order to give myself a chance to win on Sunday?’ It’s just a never-ending cycle.”

Morikawa shared that golfers are forced to be a different level of “mentally strong” than athletes who compete in other sports.

“It takes a toll out of you,” he said. “I don’t think people realize the stress it puts on our bodies that we go through every single day. We are trying to perfect this game, essentially, that we can’t perfect. We can’t go 4-for-4 with five RBIs and two home runs. No one is going to have 18 birdies in a round. There’s always going to be struggles that you have to maintain and balance. That’s a big part that I think people have a misconception about.”

Morikawa credited Zhu with being beneficial for his mental health.

“I wouldn’t say it’s a necessity for everyone, but it’s a necessity for me,” Morikawa said about his marriage. “I’m so proud of her. I think the motivation she gives me with what she does with her running, it pushes me every day to get better. She played golf in college and stopped playing after a year of playing pro, and was able to travel with me.”

Morikawa continued, “It’s lucky to have your best friend by your side and be able to go out and enjoy life, travel the world, see new places and do what I love. I’m very thankful that she’s given up a lot of her things that she loved to do and allow a lot of her time to come out on this journey.”

After stating that the truth is indeed out there, former President Barack Obama clarified his comments regarding extraterrestrial life.

Following up his interview that discussed “real” aliens — conducted by political podcaster Brian Tyler Cohen and published on Friday, February 13 — Obama, 64, took to Instagram two days later to address his claim. “I was trying to stick with the spirit of [Cohen’s] speed round, but since it’s gotten attention let me clarify. Statistically, the universe is so vast that the odds are good there’s life out there. But the distances between solar systems are so great that the chances we’ve been visited by aliens is low,” he wrote.

Obama, who served as the 44th President of the U.S. from 2009 to 2017, concluded, “I saw no evidence during my presidency that extraterrestrials have made contact with us. Really!”

The politician had stated during the podcast interview that he hadn’t “seen” aliens himself while in office. “They’re not being kept at Area 51. There’s no underground facility — unless there’s this enormous conspiracy and they hid it from the President of the United States,” Obama told Cohen, 37. He also noted that getting to the bottom of extraterrestrial life was the “first question” he wanted answered after becoming the President. “Where are the aliens?” he recalled asking authorities.

Related: Whoopi Goldberg Claims There Are ‘Space Aliens’ Are ‘Already’ on Earth

Whoopi Goldberg went a little extra on the Wednesday, March 27, episode of The View — as in, extraterrestrial. During a discussion with Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire star Kumail Nanjiani, The View cohost Sunny Hostin asked the actor, 46, whether he believes in ghosts after filming the movie. While Nanjiani said, “I don’t believe in ghosts, […]

Fans took to Obama’s Instagram post with light-hearted jests at his interview comments, with one fan writing, “Which aliens made you clarify this statement 😂,” and another writing, “Blink twice if the aliens made you say this.”

Obama shone a public light on his extraterrestrial curiosity during an appearance on The Late Late Show in 2021. While speaking to the former show’s host, James Corden, Obama said, “The truth is that when I came into office, I asked, right, I was like, ‘Alright, is there the lab somewhere where we’re keeping the alien specimens and spaceship?’ And … they did a little bit of research and the answer was no.”

He also noted to Corden, 47, at the time, “What is true, and I’m actually being serious here, is that there are, there’s footage and records of objects in the skies, that we don’t know exactly what they are. We can’t explain how they moved, their trajectory. They did not have an easily explainable pattern. And so, you know, I think that people still take seriously trying to investigate and figure out what that is.”

Obama also said during a 2021 appearance on The Ezra Klein Show podcast, recorded after his Late Late Show spot, that if aliens were proven to exist that the impact of the confirmation would alter Earth as we know it.

“There would be immediate arguments about, like, well, we need to spend a lot more money on weapons systems to defend ourselves,” he said at the time. “New religions would pop up. And who knows what kind of arguments we would get into. We’re good at manufacturing arguments for each other.”

Obama noted that the world of politics, however, would not be impacted, “Because … politics is premised on the fact that we are these tiny organisms on this little speck floating in the middle of space.”

Nate Diaz
Ready to Throw Hands for America
… I Want In On White House Card!!!

Published
February 16, 2026
12:30 AM PST

Selling Sunset star Jason Oppenheim has dated several of his costars — including Nicole Young and Chrishell Stause — during his time in the reality TV spotlight.

While Young joined the cast of the Netflix reality series for season 6, which premiered in May 2023, her relationship with Oppenheim started and ended long before her debut.

“[Nicole] dated Jason [10 years ago] — she was the first,” Amanza Smith exclusively revealed to Us Weekly in August 2022. “I’ve known her for 10 years and she’s amazing. She’s not new to me. I’m just very glad that she’s finally on the show with us and we get to spend more time with her in the office because I adore Nicole.”

Young isn’t the only ex with whom Oppenheim has maintained an amicable personal and professional relationship. The real estate mogul and Stause were friends and coworkers before they went public with their romance in July 2021. The pair split later that year. (Stause has since moved on with G Flip and the pair tied the knot in May 2023.)

Keep scrolling for a look at Oppenheim’s dating history: