Joe Locke teases Heartstopper season four as season three finishes filming

Joe Locke has confirmed that Heartstopper season three has officially wrapped up filming, and given fans their biggest hint yet that season four is definitely happening.

It’s only been a few months since the second series of Alice Oseman’s adorable queer teen romance began streaming on Netflix, but it appears the third instalment is progressing fast.

In a post on his Instagram Stories, 20-year-old Locke, who plays lead character and gay teen Charlie Spring, shared a photo of himself flipping the bird while being filmed on camera.

In a short tease, he captioned the photo: “Bye for now Charlie warlie x.”

A follow-up post featured the actor using an alien filter over a photo of himself, with the cheeky comment: “I’ll stop now, sorry Netflix.”

joe locke via insta story – "bye for now charlie warlie x" 🍂 pic.twitter.com/otqqaaNXGi

— daily joe locke (@dailyjlocke) December 13, 2023

Fans have immediately latched onto Locke’s comment as both confirmation that season three is heading into post-production, and confirmation that Locke will be back for season four – which has yet to be officially announced by Netflix.

However, considering Oseman has only just released the fifth instalment of her Heartstopper graphic novel series – which sees Charlie and boyfriend Nick Nelson (Kit Connor) take their relationship to the next level – it seems very likely that the show will be greenlit for season four.

Oseman’s novel series is expected to end with the as-yet unreleased volume six, which will tie up Charlie and Nick’s relationship.

Reacting to Locke’s Instagram Stories post, one fan wrote on social media: “What does he know? Why ‘for now’? What’s he playing at because it is triggering my clown make-up for a season four announcement very soon, not going to lie.”

“Oh, we’re getting season four down,” a second fan declared.

On the other hand, some fans are concerned that the tentative tone in Locke’s post might indicate that Heartstopper might not be renewed for a fourth season after all.

“If he just finished filming for season three ‘for now’ does this mean … fingers crossed that Joe has not just filmed his last ever scene as Charlie,” one concerned fan wrote.

“I’ll actually be so upset if this ends up being the last season,” commented a second distraught Locke stan.

“Bye for now because he doesn’t know if it’ll get renewed for one more season, I’m crying,” sobbed a third.

Heartstopper seasons one and two are currently streaming on Netflix.