Emma Mackey (Maeve) hints Sex Education season 4 may be her last season in new interview

Sex Education fans, we have some bad news to report about one of the show’s main cast members. Emma Mackey, who plays Maeve in the teen series, may be joining the growing list of actors departing the show. But you don’t have to worry about her not being in Sex Education season 4 because she’s already confirmed to reprise her role.

All throughout 2022, we learned of so many Sex Education cast departures that we began to worry about the show’s future after the fourth season. It all started when Simone Ashley (Olivia) announced she wouldn’t be in the fourth season back in April 2022. Then, later in the year, Patricia Allison (Ola), Tanya Reynolds (Lily), and Rakhee Thakrar (Emily) announced their departure.

The most recent cast member to exit the popular teen series is Ncuti Gatwa (Eric). Although Ncuti will be in Sex Education season 4, he recently revealed that the fourth season would be his last season. Now, Emma Mackey may be the next cast member to say goodbye to her character and the show based on a recent interview she did with Total Film.

Is Emma Mackey leaving Sex Education after season 4?

02/21/23: On Feb. 19, Emma was interviewed by RadioTimes after winning the BAFTA Rising Star Award and said this about coming back for a potential fifth season, “Season 5? I’ve just finished the fourth one last week! No I don’t think I’ll be in season 5. I’ve said goodbye to Maeve.” So, it appears Emma has confirmed that she won’t be in a future season of the teen series after all. 

It’s unclear but possible. In a new interview with Total Film, Emma speaks about the new season and suggests that she might not be returning for a potential fifth season.

She talks about how exciting it is to be able to play Maeve but doesn’t know how much longer she’ll be able to play a teenager now that she’s in her late 20s.

"“It’s just always tricky, it’s different when you’re playing a character that is sort of stuck in time. You know, we’re playing 17-year-olds, and we’re all almost 30, it is a bit weird. It’s a blessing because it is a launchpad and it is something that has given us opportunities in different ways but it’s something that I want to gracefully exit from, and be happy that it exists and protect it and enjoy it in the time that it has existed in but yeah, it needs to be left alone now I think.”"

Although Emma never comes right out and says she’s leaving Sex Education, it looks like she’s ready to close the book on the teen series. This isn’t surprising because Emma has been booking new roles left and right. She’s ready to move on to new and better things and would like Sex Education to end on a high note instead of it continuing, and people begin to dislike it.

However, I believe that if Sex Education gets renewed for a fifth and final season, Emma will try to reprise her role one last time. But if the fifth season isn’t the final season, she might actually exit the series after the fourth season.

However, we’ll have to believe Emma is willing to come back for potential future seasons until she officially announces her departure.

When is Sex Education season 4 coming to Netflix?

Unfortunately, we still do not have a release date yet. However, we do know that production officially wrapped up in early February. Now the new episodes should be in post-production, where they will spend at least four months before making their way to Netflix. If the show spends four months in post-production, we could be looking at a release in June 2023.

However, post-production could take longer than four months, and the release could be moved to the fall. But we highly doubt the new season will come out any later than the fall. So, expect Sex Education season 4 to be released in summer 2023 at the earliest and fall 2023 at the latest.

Stay tuned to Netflix Life for more information on the future of Sex Education.