Co-showrunner explains why original Ted Lasso cast members are absent from season 4
Season four of the Apple TV+ series shifts focus to the women’s team, and co-showrunner Brendan Hunt says scheduling conflicts and story logic led to the departure of several original male players.
The fourth season of Apple TV+’s comedy-drama Ted Lasso returns with Jason Sudeikis reprising his role as the eponymous coach, now leading Richmond’s Women’s Football Club alongside Roy Kent, owner Rebecca Welton, coach Willis Beard and Keeley Jones. The new narrative emphasis on the women’s side means several actors who played members of the men’s team, including Phil Dunster, Toheeb Jimoh, Kola Bokinni and Cristo Fernández, do not appear.
Co-showrunner and actor Brendan Hunt told Variety that Dunster’s commitments to the series Rooster made filming impossible, and that retaining the original men’s squad would have strained the show’s credibility. “Phil was going to be busy, but also, it would have strained credulity a bit further than we wanted to if all the old team were still on Richmond,” Hunt said, adding that successful players would logically have moved to larger clubs.
Hunt also described the cautious approach taken before confirming a fourth season. He said he waited for Sudeikis to express interest rather than pressuring him, noting that the decision emerged only after Sudeikis confirmed the new women’s-team focus. "Anytime he brought it up, I’d be like, ‘Sounds good,’ and then wait and see if it ever came up again," Hunt recalled.
Sudeikis confirmed that he personally informed former cast members of their exits, describing the conversations as “very difficult” and emphasizing his desire to handle the news directly rather than through media reports.