There’s a first for everything, and this year certainly marked an unfortunate first for Virgin River that fans probably won’t get over anytime soon. For the first time in the show’s run on Netflix, fans have gone a full calendar year without a new season of the hit romantic drama series. Virgin River has always been an annual release, but it has now missed a year.
Earlier this year, fans were holding out hope that Virgin River season 7 would make its premiere before the end of 2025. Alexandra Breckenridge even teased a possible release in 2025 for the highly anticipated seventh season back in June, but that obviously didn’t end up coming to fruition. The actress later admitted that Netflix would be smart to hold the series until 2026.
This fall, Netflix boss Ted Sarandos confirmed that Virgin River season 7 will premiere in 2026, but an exact release date hasn’t been announced just yet. Ben Hollingsworth, who plays Brady in the series, hinted that the new episodes could arrive in March. However, what we know for certain right now is that there’s no chance that season 7 will be a surprise release in December 2025.
Virgin River season 7 will premiere on Netflix in 2026
Netflix unveiled its full list of new release movies and shows for December 2025, and Virgin River season 7 was not included in the extensive release schedule. If the new season were going to premiere this month, the streamer would have announced the release date by now. There are already plenty of new Netflix shows coming this month that will keep us busy.
As frustrating as it might be to have to wait even longer for Virgin River to return, it makes sense why Netflix has opted to keep the show on the bench for now. Everyone’s attention has been trained on Stranger Things 5 since its premiere on Nov. 26, and the final season will continue to roll out on Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve. There’s only so much counter-programming you can offer.
In between Stranger Things drops, Netflix has Western period drama The Abandons on Dec. 4 and the triumphant return of Emily in Paris with season 5 on Dec. 18. Anything more would be completely buried in the shadow of Stranger Things. It’s wise to begin 2026 with a clean slate and save some huge hit original series for the beginning of the new year.
Thankfully, we shouldn’t be waiting too long into 2026 for the release of season 7, and we might even find out before the end of the year when the release date will be. There’s even more good news for Virgin River fans, as the series has also already been renewed for season 8, which should begin filming sometime in early 2026 as well. Stay tuned for more news and updates!
