Why wasn’t Kelsey Owens in the season 5 premiere?

For several seasons, it used to be Kelsey’s show. She was the main character and the stories revolves around her, even if she wasn’t the narrator. Any idea why Kelsey wasn’t in the season five premiere?

Is she taking a step back? Is she too expensive? You’d think Kelsey would want to be on all she could to promote her clothing line, but that said, I recently went to her website and it was down.

On the other hand, the show is getting so toxic. The Chloe stuff is so gross and so is Brandon’s shit. No one seems to be in a genuine friendship and the cast seems riddled with anxiety. Maybe she’s taking some time off to distance herself.

All thoughts and theories welcome because I’m genuinely curious.