Fans of Virgin River have been rejoicing on social media over the past few months, given that numerous viral Facebook pages and posts have claimed that Netflix has already pulled the trigger on an eighth season of the show. That’s, sadly, not true for the moment.
Since late December, posts have been going viral across social media (mostly on Facebook) stating that season 8 is a go. Many have the exact same caption, “Surprise!!! Virgin River has been renewed for season 8!” but this isn’t true – at least not entirely. Many will come with pictures that have fake dates doctored over them.
Rampant information on Facebook regarding Netflix titles has long been a thing. We’ve seen it grow exponentially in the past year, though, as pages do whatever they can for viralty to earn money from the new lucrative Facebook Bonuses feature. Another way pages earn money is through links (often to very suspicious-looking URLs) that contain ads (often with malware). Some of the community posts are advertising Virgin River merchandise, which earns them commissions.
One such page is Netflix Updates, owned by the Australian company Gamurs Group. In a post on February 5th, they stated, “Virgin River Season 8 is officially in development, and a release date will be announced soon.” That post has 17,000 likes and, as we’ll come onto, is very misleading.
We’ve covered many of these pages before with fake release dates, renewals, and projects all being advertised. The rise of the likes of ChatGPT and other image-generation services has also made matters worse, with fake posters for fake projects often garnering tens of thousands of likes. That’s not to mention those who pose as show stars, trying to scam them in direct messages for money. Martin Henderson has repeatedly warned of fake profiles that imitate him.
Selection of Facebook posts claiming Virgin River has been renewed for season 8
As we’ve covered before and in our big Virgin River season 7 preview, there are already positive hints at an eighth season, but no official word on it happening just yet.
In January, we noted an interview with star Benjamin Hollingsworth, who stated in an interview with PopTernative that early discussions were already underway for an eighth season and what it would entail. Further fuel was added to the fire with Alexandra Breckenridge speaking to Katee Sackhoff and confirming that she had signed on via her contract for a potential eighth season.
For now, Netflix has only confirmed a seventh season, which begins filming this Spring, with no release date or window confirmed. While early signs look good for a season 8, its future is currently unconfirmed beyond season 7.
Are you hoping Netflix renews Virgin River for an eighth season? Let us know in the comments down below, and keep checking back here on What’s on Netflix for the latest on the fan-favorite show.
