Virgin River has a completely new cast.
Stars Marco Grazzini and Lauren Hammersley are leaving the hit Netflix series ahead of Season 8.
Showrunner Patrick Sean Smith confirmed the news to Deadline on Thursday, the same day all 10 episodes of season 7 dropped on the streaming platform.
However, Smith clarified that both actors may return in future seasons and that no further cast changes are planned.
“For me, I’m just trying to look at the longevity of the show and make sure that the characters that we’re keeping have enough of a story engine to continue,” the showrunner said.
“So I can’t say there’s any specific cast shake-up planned,” he continued, “but I think we’ll have to make some decisions and start introducing new blood as the characters progress through their own course.”
Grazzini, who played detective Mike Valenzuela, joined the show in season two and was promoted to series regular in season three.
In the Season 7 finale, Mike fails to rekindle his relationship with Bree Sheridan (Gibby Allen) and ends up patching things up with medical investigator Victoria (Sarah Canning).
Canning will also be leaving the series.
“Mike will probably be on the back burner for a while until we write something,” Smith told Deadline. “We already have a lot of relationships, so I think it was kind of a happy ending for this chapter with Mike finding his way back to Victoria and exploring what happens there.”
Smith added, “But I love Marco, so if the creatives get it right, his character could come back in a more substantial role.”
Hammersley played the role of Sharmaine Roberts in season 1, but was demoted to a regular cast in season 5.
Charmaine, who went missing in the season 6 finale, was absent throughout season 7 until she was found and rescued by Bree.
“Charmaine is not scheduled to come back for Season 8, but we haven’t said that. When the time is right, we would like to bring this character back for something other than another cliffhanger and more lies about the pregnancy,” Smith said.
Smith confirmed that the remaining main cast of Season 7 – Allen, Alexandra Breckenridge, Martin Henderson, Colin Lawrence, Annette O’Toole, Tim Matheson, Ben Hollingsworth, Sarah Dugdale, Kai Bradbury and Candice McClure – will be returning for Season 8.
The show was renewed for the next season in July 2025.
“On behalf of myself and the entire Virgin River family, we are forever grateful to Netflix and our fans for allowing us to continue this journey with these beloved characters,” Smith told Netflix’s Tudum at the time.
The first seven seasons of Virgin River are available to stream on Netflix.
