Hold up! Wentworth’s eighth season will be with us in June. And a new cast photo reveals a very Freak-y development!

Stop the (steam) press! We now know when Wentworth’s eighth season is due to hit FOX SHOWCASE.

You’d better spend the next few months familiarising yourself with all the teal trauma we’ve seen over seven seasons, as the new instalment has been confirmed to arrive in June.

By then, we might have just about recovered from the incredibly tense siege that was the culmination of last year’s seventh season, which many fans and critics have dubbed the best ever of this Logie-winning drama.

Robbie Magasiva, whose character Will Jackson had the misfortune of being acting governor while the siege occurred, says it’s certainly going to be a prickly time for Will – especially considering the siege was brought about by the inmate he’d been romantically involved with: namely Marie Winter (Susie Porter). And that’s only the beginning! “I think things in the broader picture of Wentworth Prison will change,” he tells us.

And if the siege itself wasn’t tense enough, fans won’t forget that final shot before the credits rolled – seeing Joan ‘The Freak’ Ferguson (Pamela Rabe) standing by the side of the road. Considering we’d thought she’d been buried alive, it was one almighty mic-drop!

With Rabe appearing in the cast shot for the new season, everyone (inmates, prison staff and viewers included) will surely need to watch their backs. Magasiva will only tease us with this: “Everything’s hunky-dory until The Freak comes back.”

As well as our beloved returning favourites, seen in the new Wentworth line-up are three names who have already been announced: Kate Box, Jane Hall and Zoe Terakes.

“Wentworth needs this new blood, this new story to come through – especially after the siege,” says Rarriwuy Hick, who plays Ruby Mitchell. And she wholeheartedly gives the new arrivals her tick of approval.

“I’ve seen all of their work and they’re such amazing actors, and what they’re going to bring to the table I’m really excited about,” she enthuses. “It’s three people again. It was myself, Leah Purcell [Rita Connors] and Susie Porter who arrived together, and now they’re the newbies. It comes in threes!”

Well, actually it’s fours this time, as there’s another newbie in the cast: Vivienne Awosoga joins as Judy Bryant, who old-school fans will know is a heritage character from the original series.

As is Lou Kelly, played by Box, and the AACTA Award winner admits it’s been hard on set to contain the thrill of being part of this teal-coloured world. “It’s really exciting. I love this show,” she says. “But I’m playing a character that would show no fear, so you kind of have to suppress the giddiness and keep it cool.”

GET WENTWORTH READY

With just three months until the gates open and let us back into Wentworth, why not brush up on the past and revisit some memorable moments (think the fire that changed everything in season three; The Freak’s season-five turn as a dentist; or Sigrid Thornton’s untimely demise as Sonia Stevens in season six, to name but three). Good times!

Rewatch all episodes of all seasons now On Demand before Wentworth season eight arrives in June!

Words: Cameron Bayley; Carolyn Hiblen