Sex Education‘s cast exodus ahead of Season 4 continues, as actress Rakhee Thakrar — who plays Moordale Secondary teacher Emily Sands — is the latest to announce she won’t be returning to the Netflix series.
“I’m not part of the new series. I can’t really talk about why,” she told the British newspaper Daily Star Sunday. “But I’m so proud of the show and grateful to have been part of something so important. There is nothing bad about Sex Education.”
Netflix did not immediately respond to TVLine’s request for comment.
Thakrar, who appeared as Emily in all three previous seasons, is now the fourth Sex Education cast member to depart ahead of Season 4, slated to bow in 2023. Other exiting co-stars include Patricia Allison (aka Ola), Tanya Reynolds (Lily) and Bridgerton breakout Simone Ashley (Olivia).
“It’s just the natural progression of these shows,” Reynolds told the UK’s Radio Times in July. “When you have such big ensemble casts and so many characters, I think you have to let a few older characters go to make way for newer ones, which is absolutely the right thing, the way it should happen.”
And though Thakrar was tight-lipped about the reason behind her departure, it seems to align with Season 4’s reported creative reset, after Moordale closed at the end of Season 3. Per THR, Moordale will remain shuttered in Season 4 as the series relocates to a different school featuring a mix of new and returning characters.
As for who will be back for Season 4, that list currently includes Asa Butterfield (as Otis), Gillian Anderson (as Jean), Ncuti Gatwa (as Eric), Emma Mackey (as Maeve), Connor Swindells (as Adam), Kedar Williams-Stirling (as Jackson), Alistair Petrie (as Mr. Groff), Aimee Lou Wood (as Aimee), Mimi Keene (as Ruby), Chaneil Kular (as Anwar) and Mikael Persbrandt (as Jakob).