Sex Education Season 4: Why is Patricia Allison not returning to the Netflix series?

After the announcement made by Patricia Allison, the upcoming season of Netflix's Sex Education might be one Moordale student short.

Created by Laurie Nunn, the British comedy-drama has gained a lot of attention and affection from fans all over the world for writing, directing and mature treatment of its themes. The previous season of the series gave fans exactly what they wanted and more as it saw Mooredale’s best and brightest fight for sexual positivity.

Here's everything viewers need to know about the upcoming season and Patricia Allison's announcement.

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Patricia Allison makes her exit from Sex Education

The cast of the upcoming season is yet to be confirmed, but viewers of the show can expect the main cast members - Asa Butterfield, Emma Mackey, Gillian Anderson, Ncuti Gatwa, Connor Swindells, Alistair Petrie, Kedar Williams-Stirling and Aimée Lou Wood - to return.

However, Patricia Allison, who has been portraying the role of Ola since Season 1, will not be returning for Season 4. In a recent interview with UK radio show Breakfast With Yinka and Shayna Marie, she made the announcement, revealing:

"I absolutely have loved being on Sex Education so, so much… But unfortunately, I won’t be joining the team for Season 4. Some other opportunities have come up. I’ve been doing it for three years, and I’ve genuinely loved it. I guess I have to say goodbye at some time, which is kind of sad, but other things are coming."

Ola first made an appearance midway through the first season of the series as Otis' potential love interest, and later the two did get together. However, they broke up after they realized they were sexually incompatible. This paved the way for Ola's relationship with Lily.

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More about her departure and the rest of the cast

Although there has been no official announcement by Netflix about Allison's exit, the storyline is expected to change a whole lot. Her departure would impact not only Ola and Lily's relationship but also Jakob and Jean's too, as the two welcomed a child together in the previous season.

It will be interesting to see how Ola’s absence will be explained when the show returns. Besides Allison, Simone Ashley had also previously announced that she would not be able to return for the upcoming season due to her commitments to Bridgerton.

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When is Sex Education Season 4 expected to air?

The premiere date for the upcoming season of Sex Education has not been announced yet. The series was picked up for Season 4 last September, just one week after the release of Season 3.

However, looking at the premiere timelines of the previous season, fans can expect the new season to air around autumn 2022, with a total of eight episodes.

The upcoming iteration will also see a lot of progress for each character's storyline. Jean and Jakob will hopefully learn about Joy's biological father, Rahim and Adam's friendship might take a sweet turn, Aimee will go on a journey of self-discovery, and Maeve and Otis might finally face some challenges.

Season 4 will hopefully see the clinic reopen before things get any more out of hand after the desperate and terrible sex education that was given in the previous season.

Previous seasons of Sex Education are available for streaming on Netflix. Watch this space for more updates about the series.