‘Sex Education’: Emma Mackey Says She’s Leaving After Season 4

Emma Mackey has “said goodbye” to her Sex Education character Maeve Wiley and says she will not return for a potential Season 5 of the Netflix series.

Mackey shared the news with RadioTimes while attending the BAFTA Awards, where she won the Rising Star award.

When asked if she’d return for another season, the actress said, “Season 5? I’ve just finished the fourth one last week!” She added: “No, I don’t think I’ll be in Season 5.”

Earlier this month, Mackey’s costar Ncuti Gatwa teased his own potential exit on Instagram.  “Last day. Last time,” he captioned a photo of his trailer. “Bye bubs, thank you for all the lessons and for all the strength.”

The dramedy series has seen an exodus of cast members throughout the last year: Patricia Allison (who plays Ola), Tanya Reynolds (Lily), Simone Ashley (Olivia) and Rahkee Thakrar (Mooredale Secondary teacher Emily Sands) all have been confirmed as leaving the show.

Despite the loss of a chunk of its supporting talent, the show’s confirmed returning cast includes Asa Butterfield (Otis), Gillian Anderson (Jean), Gatwa (Eric), Wood (Aimee), Emma Mackey (Maeve), Connor Swindells (Adam), Kedar Williams-Stirling (Jackson), Mimi Keene (Ruby), George Robinson (Isaac), Chinenye Ezeudu (Vivienne), Dua Saleh (Cal), Alistair Petrie (Michael) and Samantha Spiro (Maureen). In addition, Dan Levy (Schitt’s Creek) has joined the series as Thomas Molloy, a famous author and Maeve’s U.S. course tutor at her Ivy League college.

Sex Education is slated to return for Season 4 sometime in 2023.