After a two-year hiatus, Season 4 of Apple TV's hit series, Ted Lasso, made its debut on Tuesday night. And it didn't take long for viewers to notice the absence of a beloved character from the first three seasons.
While the main cast of Jason Sudeikis, Hannah Waddingham, Brendan Hunt, Juno Temple and Brett Goldstein did return for Season 4, Phil Dunster — who played AFC Richmond star forward Jamie Tartt — was not brought back for the latest iteration of the show.
Fans grew to love Tartt as a character and the three-season arc he went on from a selfish locker room cancer to a likable Premier League star.
What happened to Jamie Tartt in Season 4?
Hunt explained that Dunster's busy schedule made it impossible to bring back the actor for Season 4. The Ted Lasso co-creator (who plays Coach
Beard) also said that Tartt's absence made sense narratively as well. If a smaller club were to rise up the Premier League table in real life, it would see star players make eventual big-money moves to major clubs. Plus, the rebooted series focuses on the AFC Richmond women's team. There wouldn't be much room for a Jamie Tartt subplot.
Via Variety:
“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. If this team is doing so well, then the best players would be gone. They’d be bought by bigger clubs.”
So, it made sense for Tartt to make a move to a perennial powerhouse. And in this show's case, he ended up at FC Barcelona.
jamie left richmond ohhhh god im gonna be sick pic.twitter.com/Q03LwLG6tU
— kendall roy’s second wife (@princekendalll) August 5, 2026
Gracias, Jamie Tarrt. You'll be missed.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Why Jamie Tartt won't appear in Season 4 of 'Ted Lasso'
