Emily in Paris creator reveals why key character hasn't returned for season 5 - and why "fun Gabriel" is now back

Emily in Paris is back for another delicious, dramatic outing with season 5, following the American expat as she jet sets across Paris, Rome and Venice and meets a whole host of new people along the way.

Creator Darren Star told the RadioTimes.com that the new cast, which includes Minnie Driver, Bryan Greenberg and the return of Eugenio Franceschini as a series regular, "gave the show a lot of new energy."

One notable absence this time around is Camille Razat who played Camille, a central figure in the season's love triangle which included her, her ex-boyfriend Gabriel and former close friend Emily.

In season 4, Camille was in a whirlwind of turmoil as it was revealed that she wasn’t pregnant, but had a rare false positive, and kept it hidden from Gabriel to try and make him stay with her… rather than go back to Emily.

The revelation that she’d concealed the truth leads to the breakdown of their relationship and Camille leaves to seek new horizons and loves beyond her small circle in Paris.

Speaking about Camille’s absence, Starr said: “I think Camille's storyline was a wonderful storyline, but I think it ran its course by the end of season 4, so it opened up some new doors for us.”

Moving away from the familiarities in Paris, as Emily spends a good portion of the series in Rome (then Venice), also meant a major dynamic change for this season as the core will-they-won’t-they storyline between Emily and Gabriel also faded into the background.

Speaking about his character arc on the show with Variety, Bravo expressed that he wanted to bring back "fun Gabriel" to the show after a "gloomy" period of pining over the one that got away, Emily.

Starr felt as though the geographical distance between Emily and Gabriel this season helped them both have more freedom to find new loves, passions and joy away from this romantic storyline.

"I think some of the fun Gabriel came back in season five, I really do," Star added, "I think it was just a wonderful balance of having Gabriel on the show in just the right way because their relationship was not the main focus this season, but he's always a part of the show.

"I think if we have a season 6, it'll be a great storyline to continue with this."

Though a new season hasn’t been confirmed yet, it’s expected that an announcement could be imminent for another season, as one is usually released every year.

Read more:

• Has Emily in Paris been renewed for season 6?
• Emily in Paris cast reveal shocked reaction to surprising new romance this season: "I was like: 'This is a joke'"

Thankfully, Star already has in mind "endless possibilities" for the future of the show and has left the season 5 finale open ended for anything to happen.

"First we have to get our order for season 6, but [the finale] teases a lot," he began, "I think that we have endless possibilities.

"We have a lot of open-ended story lines, a lot of conflicts and unresolved tensions between our characters, and I think all of our characters are left with some real dilemmas at the end of the season."

Meanwhile, Ashley Park and Lily Collins are "definitely" on for another season and have some luxurious destinations in mind.

"We wouldn’t mind Greece," Park tells RadioTimes.com, "we wouldn't mind the yacht either."

"We’ve done so many different things now," Collins adds, "I’m like ‘nothing would surprise me.’ Darren always brings something new and bold.

"But the thing is, we have actually no idea. So, we can romanticise it, but we're both crossing our fingers being like, ‘let's not get our hopes up.'"

Park’s one request? "As long as it’s not Emily in space right now, we're good with wherever."

Emily in Paris seasons 1-5 are streaming now on Netflix. Sign up for Netflix from £4.99 a month.

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