While we all had the chance to return to Richmond in Ted Lasso season 4, the future of our lovely football players remains up in the air — and Hannah Waddingham’s response only reinforces that.
On the red carpet appearance recently, Variety asked Waddingham when she would “start filming” season 5, but she simply responded that she “didn’t know” and that nothing is confirmed just yet.
Hannah Waddingham says she “genuinely” doesn’t know if “Ted Lasso” will return for Season 5:
— Variety (@Variety) November 6, 2026
“We’d all probably do it if we didn’t get paid... don’t tell them that!” pic.twitter.com/07o3ORfzNI
Waddingham cheekily added that they’d all probably do the season even if they “didn’t get paid,” and then instantly said, "Don't tell them [Apple TV] that.” She continued to say it was a “wonderful thing, but who knows? I genuinely don’t know.”
This only fuels rumors that Ted Lasso might not return for a fifth season, despite a few stories that could easily continue from season 4.
Ted Lasso season 5 is still up in the air
Earlier in October, not that long after the finale of season 4, co-creator Jason Sudeikis said that there wasn’t a writers’ room formed yet for the show and that while they’d love to do season 5, it “takes a village," and there are just some things that haven’t been ironed out yet.
With Waddingham’s response, a potential season 5 seems even further away than we thought.
Season 4 was pretty surprising, nonetheless. The original concept of Ted Lasso was a three-season storyline, and it wasn’t until years after the season 3 finale (originally considered the show's finale) that they announced season 4 would happen. While some of the cast didn’t return as primary characters, we did have some cameos, like Phil Dunster as Jamie Tartt and Nick Mohammed as Nate Shelley.
If the show were to continue instantly, it would surely be a success for Apple TV. Ted Lasso season 4 continued to dominate the streaming platform's charts, just as it did during the first three seasons. It also earned great reviews, including an impressive 90% on Rotten Tomatoes. There’s no denying that the series is well-beloved.
Some storylines also left us with questions at the end of season 4. We know Rebecca (Waddingham) and her Dutch pilot boyfriend, Matthijs (Matteo van der Grijn), are engaged, so they would be planning a wedding in a supposed season 5. Also, Roy (Brett Goldstein) has left Richmond for a coaching job at Chelsea, and he and Keeley (Juno Temple) are not only back together but also expecting a baby.
Every character could potentially have a continuation of their story, especially with Ted (Sudeikis) and his coaching positions that change at Richmond. But season 5 is still up in the air.
Why season 5 might not happen
While Waddingham and Sudeikis have said season 5 isn't renewed yet but "hope it will be," that's not the big reason I'm concerned. It's the timeline that makes me think season 5 won't happen.
With every other season of Ted Lasso, we pretty much got a renewal right after the finale ended, if not beforehand. It was clear the story they were trying to tell wouldn’t fit into one season.
But with season 4, while some questions and storylines could continue, it could also easily end right now. If Ted Lasso had ended with season 1, it would have left fans with plenty of open-ended questions and wanting more. With the season 4 finale, there wasn’t much open-endedness, just the potential to continue certain storylines and see where they went after.
It felt like they were trying to tell a complete story in one season because Season 5 might not happen. That said, Apple TV reported that the show's fourth season broke records at its premiere.
According to Deadline, there were a reported “296.6 million viewing minutes in the U.S. across its August 4 and 5 launch window, per Nielsen data provided by Apple on Thursday. On August 5 alone, the season debut was the most-streamed program in the U.S."
Those are major numbers and show that people still really love this show.
The only thing we’ve gotten from Apple was a quote right after the premiere from executive Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president of services. He said in an interview with Screen Rant that he believed the fourth season warranted a fifth:
“I hope so. It’s certainly good enough for that. So I think there’s plenty of stories to go on. We’ll show up. No worries.”
If season 5 happens, it would most likely be just as successful. That being said, since there hasn’t been any announcement yet, all we can really do is be patient.
You can watch season 4 of Ted Lasso on Apple TV.
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