Ncuti Gatwa reveals he’s leaving Sex Education: “Thank you for all the lessons”
The forthcoming fourth season of Sex Education will be the last outing for Ncuti Gatwa and his beloved character Eric Effiong.
Gatwa announced the news as he commemorated the last day of filming. In an Instagram post, the actor shared a photo of his trailer door alongside the caption: “Last day.
Last time. Bye bubs, thank you for all the lessons and for all the strength.” His co-star Aimee Lou Wood, who plays fan-favourite character Aimee Gibbs, mourned his departure, writing: “My heart hurts badly.” Gatwa has played Eric since the first season of the Netflix comedy, for which he has received universal critical acclaim and a BAFTA TV Award nomination for Best Male Performance in a Comedy Programme.
Since Sex Education debuted in 2018, Eric has become one of the UK’s most visible LGBTQ+ characters on the small-screen. In his GAY TIMES cover story, Gatwa praising the series for its “beautiful representation of a young LGBT boy of colour and his journey through life, and his journey through his own acceptance, his culture, coming from a West African background.” Gatwa also shared how the character has impacted viewers, particularly LGBTQ+ viewers of colour: “I was at UK Black Pride and the amount of people who were coming up to me specifically about the relationship between Eric and his dad was constant. “And I think it really touched people to see this portrayal of this Black man, this strong big Black man loving his gay son.
