Sex Education favourite will not be returning for season 4 of Netflix show

The news comes after another major character announced they won’t be coming back

Tanya Reynolds will not be returning for the next series of Sex Education, it has been revealed, and fans of the show are heartbroken.

The actor played the lovably quirky Lily Iglehart in the first three seasons of Netflix’s hit, coming-of-age comedy.

It comes after Patricia Allison, who played Lily’s girlfriend Ola Nyman, announced she would not be returning to the show, and would instead be pursuing other opportunities.

Reynolds, 30, told RadioTimes: “I’m not [returning], actually, which is sad, very sad. It’s just the natural progression of these shows – 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.”

Reflecting on her time playing Lily, Reynolds said: “I loved every minute of it and I loved Lily with my whole entire heart. Three seasons was just a really perfect amount for me.”

tanya reynolds (lily) leaving sex education as well omg it’s a mass exodus there’s no way this isn’t the last season

— feral (@ncrmalpeople) July 13, 2022

The character is best known for her erotic alien comic sketches and obsession with fantasy worlds in space.

Her first series storyline saw Lily open up about suffering with vaginismus – a condition which causes the vagina to tighten suddenly when trying to insert something into it.

The end of season three saw Lily and Ola make up again after a serious falling out.

With both actors leaving the show, finding out where Lily and Ola are up to could prove difficult.

Discussing her exit earlier in July, 27-year-old Allison told Capital Xtra: “I’m just going to be doing some other little things. Some other opportunities have come up. I’ve been doing it for three years and I’ve genuinely loved it. I have to say goodbye at some time, which is kind of sad. But other things are coming! And that’s really exciting.”