‘Pretty Little Liars’ season 3 spoilers: First photo of Missy Franklin!

Mere hours after we shared the first photo of Gabby Douglas on the set of “The Vampire Diaries,” we have some more Olympic news to share now: Missy Franklin’s first official shot on “Pretty Little Liars” season 3. While it seemed for a while as though the appearance of the Olympic swimmer as herself was going to be completely random, it turns out now that she may have more of a history with Rosewood than anyone originally imagined.

Speaking to TV Guide (who first published the photo to the left), executive producer Marlene King claims that Franklin, who is seemingly playing a version of herself, has some sort of past connection to the character of Shana played by Aeriel Miranda. Remember her? If you watched the “Pretty Dirty Secrets” web series, then you know already that she is the mysterious newcomer to Rosewood who is seen at times talking to some mysterious person on the phone. (Wouldn’t it be a twist of Missy turned out to be “A” all along? Okay, that seems unlikely.)

One person who clearly seems to be thrilled about Franklin stopping by is Shay Mitchell’s character of Emily, who is an avid swimmer herself who would probably appreciate a few pointers from someone who took the Olympics by storm this year. We still find it fascinating that despite being from a town in Colorado (which is not really the sort of place where you would want to swim year-round), Franklin still managed to be the best in the world. Being that Emily lives in a fictional setting that is somewhat similar near Philadelphia, the two may have plenty to talk about.

Are you excited to see Missy on the show, and how do you think she will ultimately be connected with Rosewood?