The Morning Show season 5: everything we know about the Apple TV show's return

The Morning Show season 5 is officially going ahead, which is not surprising considering it's one of Apple TV’s flagship productions and most popular TV shows – but it’s also one of its most divisive.

Is the show – a fictional behind the scenes look at all the drama and scandal that goes on The Morning Show show on UBN? An escapist and enjoyable soap-opery watch? Or is it silly, "chaotic" or "the most ridiculous show on TV" as some critics have described it? Well, it’s a mixture of all the above, really.

The Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon-led program is certainly a unique viewing experience. Indeed, the series has clocked up many viewers: Deadline reported after the third season that it was Apple TV’s most watched show, ever, and had broken records.

Season four was released in September 2025, and on the week of its launch, the streamer revealed that the multi Emmy award-winning show had been renewed for a fifth series. So, what do we know so far about where this next chapter will take us; who can we expect in the cast, and when is the potential release date? Like a breaking story on the morning TV channel: here’s all the news:

The Morning Show season 5: release date speculation

While there’s no exact release date announced for The Morning Show season 5 just yet, looking back at the previous four series of the show, we might be in for a little bit of a wait. Traditionally, there’s been a two-year gap in between each series, and while the most recent series would have been delayed by Hollywood strikes, it’s possible that there could still be the same length in-between season 4 and 5.

So, with the new series being announced in September 2025, that could mean that the follow-on season might not hit our screens until the second half of 2027. But, as we said, nothing’s confirmed as yet, and perhaps the production team might surprise us with an early start, just like the TV anchors in the show.

The Morning Show season 5: trailer speculation

There’s nothing as yet for the trailer, but keep checking back, and as soon as the news breaks, we’ll upload the trailer for the new series.

The Morning Show season 5: cast, confirmed and speculated

Spoilers follow for previous seasons of The Morning Show.

We know that the two main female leads in the show – Jennifer Aniston, who plays TV anchor Alex Levy, and Reese Witherspoon who plays the sparky Bradley Jackson – will be returning, and it’s likely that so will Billy Crudup, who stars as the ruthless Cory Ellison will also make a return.

While other guest stars are yet to be confirmed – and there’s normally some great, surprise names announced each season – it’s also highly likely that we’ll see returns from:

• Néstor Carbonell as Yanko Flores
• Karen Pittman as Mia Jordan
• Mark Duplass as Charlie "Chip" Black
• Jon Hamm as Paul Marks
• Nicole Beharie as Christine "Chris" Hunter
• William Jackson Harper as Ben

However, there are a couple of characters who we’re unlikely to see again. The first – spoiler alert! – is Stella Bak (Greta Lee) who after a power grab and some serious underhand wheeling and dealing fell on her own sword and was last seen emigrating to Naples, Italy.

The second is network boss Celine Dumont (Marion Cotillard), who was finally ousted at the end of season 4, and sent back to France to be the “scapegoat” for her family’s evil deeds.

The Morning Show season 5: potential plot

To catch everyone up – and, obviously, stop reading here if you’re not up to date on season 4 – the end of s4 was a bit of a whirlwind. Alex Levy was forced to resign by Celine, who said she’d reveal Alex and Paul Marks (Jon Hamm’s) dodgy deals with Russian oligarchs to try to get Bradley Jackson freed from the Belarus prison she was stuck in.

But Cory proved he did have a moral bone in his body when he helped Alex controversially reveal that Celine and her family were behind the Wolf River contamination cover up; and they exposed her by putting her rant on speaker phone, during a live press conference, in which she implicated herself in the scandal.

The final scenes saw Bradley and Alex emotionally reunite as she was freed from prison. “I’m sorry I f*****d up”, she cried in Alex’s arms, as Alex reassured her that it was in fact the opposite: “You changed everything”, she told her.

So now Bradley and Alex will presumably be back as the top dogs in UBN, but how can the network – which continually claims to pride itself on transparency – continue after these huge scandals? It’s likely that Bradley and Alex will have to work once again to overhaul the network’s reputation and the viewers' trust in the show. And who will be the new board members brought on to help restore faith in UBN? Guesses now please for which guest stars will be brought in for this role – and like the other previous nefarious characters, what agenda of their own they’ll be bringing with them.

And as for that final, flirty scene with Alex and Paul (“I think I’ve been a bit of pain,” Alex says, as he replies: “Well, I think I’m developing a tolerance”)? Here’s betting that that special look they gave each other as the elevator door shut means that their romance is far from dead – in fact, it looks a dead cert to be back on in season 5.

As head of programming for Apple TV, Matt Cherniss said: “The Morning Show continues to deliver addictively entertaining and provocative stories that we’ve all come to love.” And we can’t wait to see where it careers off to next.

The Morning Show: the future

While the show is pulling in record amounts of viewers for Apple TV, it's likely the streamer will want to continue the run of The Morning Show for as long as possible.

However, it sounds like there is a bit of hesitation from the showrunner, Charlotte Stoudt. Speaking with Deadline about the future of the show, she said: "Part of that truly is an Apple question. And also the actors. They’re very busy, and they have lots of other things going on. I would say we’re early enough in the writing room this year that my real answer to that is, I’m not sure. It’s just about, where do you where do these people end up? And how long does it take them to get to a clarity about their lives? And certainly. Right now, I don’t know anybody is feeling that clear about anything. [It’s] a very destabilizing time."