All of the Sex Education stars who've left the show since season one
After winning the BAFTAs Rising Star Award over the weekend, Emma Mackey confirmed that she was saying goodbye to Sex Education after four seasons.
Emma, who played Maeve on the beloved Netflix series, is the latest star to walk away, following in the footsteps of many of her co-stars, but that didn't make the news any less devastating for fans.
So while we all grieve the loss of Maeve from Moordale High, let's take a look at all the Sex Education stars who have also left the show.
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Patricia Allison
Patricia played Ola from seasons one through three. She started off dating Otis (Asa Butterfield), but later dumps him for alien-obsessed Lily (Tanya Reynolds).
Meanwhile, her dad Jakob (Mikael) started dating, and eventually had a baby with Otis's mum, Jean Milburn (Gillian Anderson).
Patricia announced her departure from the show after season three wrapped, telling Capital 1Xtra: "I absolutely have loved being on Sex Education so, so much, and playing Ola. But unfortunately, I won’t be joining the team for season four."
She explained: "Some other opportunities have come up. So, I’ve been doing it for three years and I’ve like genuinely loved it."
Patricia is next set to appear in a film called Paradise alongside Tate Donovan.
Tanya Reynolds
Not only is Ola gone, but her girlfriend Lily is out too, with Tanya Reynolds confirming last July that she wouldn't be returning to the series.
Tanya's character Lily was a fan favourite thanks to her bizarre outfits, love of aliens and supernatural fan-fiction, and sweet relationships with characters like Otis and Ola.
Unfortunately, though, Lily will not be back for season four.
Speaking to LADbible, Tanya said: "My character's not back either.
"I was expecting people on this [promotion for new comedy] to ask that question, so I haven't really, yeah, I haven't really spoken about it yet, but Lily's not back either.
"It will be, it will be great... it will be great. There'll be lots of new characters and people will forget all about little old Lil."
After the news broke, Tanya appeared in Channel 4 miniseries I Hate You alongside Melissa Saint and comedy horror HBO series The Baby.
Simone Ashley
Simone played Olivia, a member of Moordale High's royalty, aka The Untouchables, from seasons one through three.
She was by no means the leader of the pack, and didn't have a massive role in the series, so when she joined the cast of Bridgerton, it was pretty easy to say goodbye.
Simone played Kate in the steamy series, who got heart-rates pumping with an enemies to lovers romance with Anthony Bridgerton (Jonathan Bailey) in season two.
She announced last April that she'd be saying goodbye to Olivia and the rest of the Sex Education crew, telling This Morning: "I'm a Bridgerton girl now."
Simone and Jonathan are currently filming season three of Bridgerton, which will focus primarily on Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton) and Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan), but with plenty of 'post-marriage Kanthony' to keep Simone fans happy.
Rakhee Thakrar
For the first three seasons of Sex Education, we saw Rakhee play adorable English teacher Emily Sands, who had a romance with fellow teacher Colin Hendricks (Jim Howick) and was instrumental in helping Maeve realise her true potential.
She became a much bigger character as the series went on, but confirmed last year that she wouldn't be returning for the show's fourth season.
Speaking to the Daily Star Sunday, she admitted: "I'm not part of the new series. I can't really talk about why.
"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."
Rakhee is next set to appear in British comedy drama My Happy Ending, which stars Andie MacDowell, Tom Cullen, and Miriam Margoyles.
Ncuti Gatwa
Ncuti was an essential part of Sex Education as Otis's best friend Eric.
Last year, it was announced that Ncuti would be the next actor to take on the role of Doctor Who, so fans knew it was only a matter of time before he said goodbye to Eric.
Although Ncuti hasn't officially announced his departure from the show, he pretty much confirmed it in a post to Instagram earlier this month.
Sharing a photo of his trailer door to social media, Ncuti wrote: "Last day. Last time. Bye bubs, thank you for all the lessons and for all the strength."
So, it sounds like season four is the end of the road for Eric.
Emma Mackey
As I mentioned earlier, Emma Mackey confirmed over the weekend that she's finished playing Maeve Wiley after shooting season four.
When asked if fans could expect to see her in a potential fifth season, the actor replied: "B****y hell, I just finished the fourth one last week!
"No, I don’t think so. I think I’ve said goodbye to it. It’s a happy goodbye though."
Now the question remains as to whether or the series will continue after season four.
With this many departures, fans aren't so sure, but they're certainly holding out hope.
Right now, no release date for season four has been announced - though, as Emma said, they did only finish filming last week - so it'll be a while before we find out what the future holds for the students of Moordale.
Topics: Sex Education, TV and Film, Netflix
Ali Condon