VIRGIN RIVER Star Says ‘We Don’t Know What Could Happen’ After Season 7 Cliffhanger

Published: March 25, 2026

By Michaela Gordoni

Benjamin Hollingsworth teased the fate of his VIRGIN RIVER character, Dan Brady, after Season 7 ended with a scary cliffhanger.

Season 7 leaves Brady’s condition unknown after a bad motorcycle wreck.

“Brady has been stabbed and survived; he’s been punched numerous times and survived,” Hollingsworth told Parade on March 23. “He’s been burnt in a fire in some sort of tinfoil burrito and survived. I’m rooting for him — but we don’t know what could happen to Brady in Season 8.”

He had wanted his character to reunite with his old flame, Brie.

“The writers were smart enough to make sure they made it feel earned,” he said. “It wasn’t just like [their characters] were bouncing from one person to the next and ping ponging around.”

Brie wanted to reignite her relationship with Brady, and “he at the same time was committed to being there for her in any capacity for as long as he could…until he realized, at some point during the fire, that she’s everything to him, and if she can’t be everything then she has to be nothing,” the actor said.

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He and Zibby Allen, who plays Brie, talk a lot when they’re not on set.

“We’re very intentional about our character choices and protecting our storyline,” he added. “From the first day when she came in during Season 3, I saw it as an opportunity to really expand who Brady is and an opportunity to show this different side of Brady, and she came in with this wonderful ability, energy, and talent.”

“I don’t know what’s next for them, but I would love to see them have joy and happiness, and really have a honeymoon phase of being together. I would love to see him integrate more into the town,” he said.

Showrunner Patrick Sean Smith recently revealed that Marco Grazzini will not be back in Season 8, nor will Lauren Hammersley, per Deadline.

“For me, I’m just trying to look to the longevity of the show and making sure that the characters that we’re keeping have enough story engine in them to keep going,” Smith said. “So I can’t say there are any specific cast shakeups planned, but I think we will have to start to — as characters run their course — make some decisions and bring in some new blood.”

The new season of VIRIGN RIVER is set to wrap filming in August, according to Marie Claire. It will likely come out next spring.

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