Jason Sudeikis and Ted Lasso Cast Tease What's Next for AFC Richmond After Season 3
You better believe it.
Ted Lasso is about to take the field once more when the Apple TV+ series returns for season three March 15. Amid rumors that the show would be finishing on a hat-trick, Jason Sudeikis and the cast teased how it may not be the end of AFC Richmond just yet.
"I think we have a talented enough writing staff, an incredible cast, tremendous production and post-production crew," Jason exclusively revealed to E! News' Keltie Knight at the March 7 premiere. "They definitely have the ability and there's plenty of water left in that sponge to squeeze out."
Echoing his previous sentiments about the original three-season arc, he continued, "All I know is that the story we wanted to tell and the one that we're telling, that's what we're here tonight to celebrate. What happens beyond this, I won't know until this is all done."
While Jason's co-star Hannah Waddingham admitted she also didn't know what the future holds for her character Rebecca, she did offer one caveat on the red carpet: She won't do a spinoff without her Ted.
Season three will follow the soccer team as they move on without wunderkind Coach Nate (Nick Mohammed), who has betrayed them in favor of another club—owned by Richmond's villainous former owner, no less. The new batch of episodes will conclude the initial story the writers set out to tell from the start, as previously suggested by Brett Goldstein.
Co-creator Brendan Hunt—a.k.a. Coach Beard—also shared his desire to keep their dream team together.
"We'll try," he said of season four and beyond. "The vibe of season three is the same as one and two, just even better lighting. Dudes in shorts hugging each other and having the most un-toxic of relationships. If you were on board for the first two, you're gonna love three."
And while Toheeb Jimoh previously told E! News he'd be interested in a spinoff for his character Sam, he also shared some ideas for season four—including his dream guest star.
"I'm gonna go Patrick Stewart," he revealed. "Because I ran into him and he wants to be on the show... I don't know if it'll work out, but if there's a season four, we'll get Patrick."
Catch up with Ted Lasso and the rest of the team when the show returns March 15 on Apple TV+. But until then, here's everything we know about season three, below...
Plus, see more of Keltie's interviews tonight on E! News at 11 p.m. EST.
In a photo released by Apple TV+ on Jan. 18, Nate and Ted (Jason Sudeikis) are pictured together inside at an elevator at the West Ham headquarters, with West Ham owner Rupert Mannion (Anthony Head) ominously looming in the distance.
In an exclusive conversation with E! News in August, Mohammed was prepared for Nate's dastardly turn.
"I knew quite early," he said. "Jason had pretty much, broadly speaking, outlines for Nate in seasons one, two and three. So I've always known where it's heading."
On Feb. 14, Apple TV+ released even more details about the season. "Roy Kent (Brett Goldstein) steps up as assistant coach," the streamer teased, "alongside Beard (Brendan Hunt). Meanwhile, while Ted deals with pressures at work, he continues to wrestle with his own personal issues back home, Rebecca (Hannah Waddingham) is focused on defeating Rupert and Keeley (Juno Temple) navigates being the boss of her own PR agency."
While major changes have come to AFC Richmond and its rambunctious cast of characters over the course of its first two seasons, Ted Lasso editor Melissa McCoy assured fans that their favorites aren't going anywhere.
"Everybody is back and in new ways," Melissa told The Hollywood Reporter's Behind the Screen podcast in August 2022, "but that feels very authentic to Ted."
Indeed, the third season of Ted Lasso will introduce some new characters—and they're coming for spots in the AFC Richmond lineup.
"We have new blood on the team," Melissa revealed, "and that invigorates what's happening in the locker room."
Something tells us Jamie Tartt (Phil Dunster) won't be thrilled.
Short answer: It's still a mystery!
In June, Brett Goldstein, who also writes on the show in addition to playing Roy, insisted that the third season would be the show's last. "We are writing it like that," he told the UK's Sunday Times. "It was planned as three."
Meanwhile, Hannah Waddingham told E! News that same month that co-creator Sudeikis had made no indication that the plan had changed.
"I asked him recently," she said. "And he went, 'Yeah, I think so, for now.' And I was like, 'OK.'"
If season three really is the end of the road for Ted Lasso, could the story continue in spinoff form?
Toheeb Jimoh, who plays AFC Richmond midfielder Sam Obisanya, certainly hopes so! As it turns out, Toheeb already has an idea for Sam, who revealed plans to open a Nigerian restaurant at the end of season two.
"I keep trying to pitch this to them," Toheeb exclusively told E! News in August 2022. "People keep laughing. But I'm being serious, bro. I want a show with Sam in the restaurant on Apple TV. Let's make it happen!"
The third season of Ted Lasso premieres March 15 on Apple TV+.
Put the tea on.
