The season finale of Tell Me Lies season 2 came out back in October 2024, and you know we're itching to get more of our favorite toxic romance drama. That's a bit of a weird way to phrase things. But if you watch the show, you know! Thankfully, Hulu didn't make us fans wait too long to find out the show's future.
A couple of months later in December last year, it was made official that Tell Me Lies season 3 is coming back and the series had been renewed! Since then, we unfortunately haven't gotten many updates. It's not really clear when the cast will even start filming or whether they have started rolling the cameras on the next chapter of this story yet.
We do expect the main cast to reprise their roles, including Grace Van Patten as Lucy, Jackson White as Stephen, Sonia Mena as Pippa, and more. But, there could be one main character from season 2 who isn't returning. Lucifer actor Tom Ellis took on the role of Oliver, who is a professor at Baird and also the husband of Marianne, Lucy and Bree's teacher.
Tom Ellis probably won't return for Tell Me Lies season 3
He and Bree (Catherine Missal) had what she thought was an affair. But in a cruel turn of events, Marianne knew about it the whole time since she and her husband have an open marriage. The two break it off, but there's a mysterious person who keeps texting and calling Bree in the present timeline as she's getting ready to walk down the aisle to marry Evan (Branden Cook). Now I think many of us have assumed it's Oliver, but perhaps with Ellis' schedule now filling up, this indicates that maybe it's not him and that the Lucifer actor won't be in Tell Me Lies season 3.
The star has been cast as one of the leads in a new Dick Wolf show on CBS, FBI spinoff titled CIA. Ellis will be put in uniform as a "fast-talking, rule-breaking loose cannon CIA case officer," in the new series, per TVLine. Now what does this have to do with his role in Tell Me Lies?
Well, the police procedural has been ordered for the 2025-2026 season, which means it will most likely be a fall show. That means in the next few months, Ellis is going to be busy filming his new project. And just because it airs in the fall, that doesn't mean all the episodes will be filmed by then. After the winter break, actors go back to film the rest of the season depending on how long it is.
As mentioned above, it's not clear when exactly the third season of our favorite Hulu series will begin filming. But, I would wager it's going to be soon to at least get us a 2026 release date. Also if CIA does well, Ellis will be booked and busy with his commitments to the show. So all this means it's probably unlikely we'll see him in season 3 as it's possible there will be conflicting filming schedules here.
This hasn't been confirmed and is purely speculation. But it will be interesting to see what comes next and whether I'm right in this assumption. Do Marianne and Oliver continue teaching at Baird? If he can't be seen, will he at least be mentioned? I don't know.
Overall I think his plot line and story with Bree could end where it did, and it doesn't feel unfinished. Though selfishly I'm a fan of Ellis and would never say no to seeing him more on my screen. We'll have to wait and see. Hopefully we get these answers soon. Perhaps Ellis can pop in for an episode or two!?
Stay tuned to Show Snob as we bring you news and updates about Tell Me Lies season 3 on Hulu.