Darren Criss Lands ‘Glee’ Series Regular Gig

Riding off of the massive success of his cover of Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream” on last week’s episode of Glee, Darren Criss has landed a regular role on the hit Fox show.

According to Columbia, which releases Glee’s soundtracks, Criss’ rendition sold more than 55,000 during its Tuesday release, the highest first-day sales for one of the show’s songs.

Since his head-turning guest star appearance, Criss’ promotion to a series regular has been a strong rumor. Over the weekend, the show’s creator Ryan Murphy confirmed the whispers, telling a web blog that they had “just signed a deal” with Criss.

“Darren has become such a sensation in one week, which I love,” Murphy told afterelton.com  at Saturday’s 39th Gala for the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center.

“I think there’s a hunger for him and a positive relationship role model. He’ll definitely continue through the year and longer. We just signed a deal with him...”

When asked if he was confirming that Criss was to remain a Season 2 regular and would also appear on the next season, Murphy replied: “yes.”

(Contacted by THR, Criss's rep said the deal was not "formal," adding "it appears he will be a series regular.")

Murphy was more mum on whether Criss’ character Blaine would become the boyfriend of Chris Colfer’s Kurt. “That I have not decided. We’re writing it. I want to see what people’s reaction to that is. Part of me thinks he should be the boyfriend, part of me thinks he should just be the mentor. I didn’t want to decide that until we got into sort of the middle of the season. We’re figuring it out now.”