EXCLUSIVE: It’s double dose of good news for Virgin River fans. Netflix is looking to expand the Virgin River world with a spinoff series, Deadline has learned. Meanwhile, Season 6 of the romantic drama, delayed by strikes and weather, is starting production today in Vancouver. (As Deadline revealed, it will premiere in 2025.)
Before Mel (Alexandra Breckenridge) and Jack’s (Martin Henderson) sweeping Virgin River romance, Mel’s late mother Sarah too fell in love with a man from the picturesque Northern California town, Everett, who was revealed in the recent Virgin River Christmas special as Mel’s biological father.
The potential prequel, which is currently in development, will explore Sarah and Everett’s origin story. The upcoming Season 6 will provide a glimpse into the duo’s past, featuring young Everett and Sarah in flashbacks.
Casting is underway for actors to play the characters as guest stars in Season 6 of Virgin River. In success, they would headline a Sarah & Everett spinoff, which is being written in the development stage by Virgin River showrunner Patrick Sean Smith.
Netflix took a similar route with another hit romantic drama, Bridgerton, successfully expanding the universe with prequel Queen Charlotte which become one of the streamer’s most watched series.
During a Q&A with Deadline tied to the Christmas special that closed out Season 5, Smith, who joined the series after Season 4, hinted that we would learn more about Sarah and Everett’s romance next season.
“What we’re exploring more in Season 6 is who Everett Reid is, what his backstory is, what his connection to Virgin River was when he met her mom and then also what it is today,” he said, adding that Season 6 will explore the “relationship of Everett with the town as well as Everett and Mel.”
Introduced in the Christmas special, John Allen Nelson plays Everett in present day; Sarah has not been seen on the show, at least not in a meaningful way.
In a Season 5 Part 1 finale cliffhanger, Mel’s sister Joey discovered a man’s love letters to their mother that revealed him to be Mel’s biological father. In the Christmas special, Mel and Jack launched a search for the mystery man that eventually led them to Everett Reid. At first, he wanted nothing to do with Mel but by the end of the special, in a true holiday spirit, he came around and asked to be part of her life.
