Orange is the New Black (OITNB) fans, today is a sad day.
Netflix and the show's cast has confirmed that one of its biggest shows will come to an end after its seventh and final series.
The forthcoming seventh season of the Jenji Kohan-created prison dramedy will be its last, with the final episodes to debut in 2019.
"After seven seasons, it’s time to be released from prison. I will miss all the badass ladies of Litchfield and the incredible crew we’ve worked with. My heart is orange but fade to black," Kohan said.
The show, which was hailed for its original and groundbreaking commentary on a variety of women's issues from its airing in 2013, sought to break the mould and fought against stereotyping subjects such as female sexuality.
In a video on the show's official Twitter account, cast members including Uzo Aduba and Taylor Schilling lamented the show's end, but promised that everyone would come together to make the last season the best one yet.
Warning: This may make you cry. The Final Season, 2019. #OITNB pic.twitter.com/bUp2yY0aoK
— Orange Is the New... (@OITNB) October 17, 2018
Rumours that the series was to come to an end first surfaced last year, but now that it has been confirmed, we'll have an OITNB-shaped hole in our lives after 2019.
Schilling, who plays Piper, told The Hollywood Reporter that the series' end felt surreal. "As an actor getting ready to say goodbye to a role that I’ve lived with for six years, it’s very poignant. It’s a very kind of surreal time. It’s as surreal as it was when the thing came out of the gate and was so powerful those first few seasons. It’s equally as surreal now to be ending it all."
