Spoiler alert: Spoilers for Emily in Paris’ Season 5 follow. Ciao…or is it goodbye? Emily in Paris Season 5 gave fans plenty to swoon over — European escapism, Versace-coded pantsuits, and yet another love interest who made us briefly question everything we thought we knew about Emily Cooper’s endgame. Enter Marcello Muratori: charming, romantic, and very good at whisking Emily on a Roman holiday when she least expected it. Because of him, we really all began to wonder if the show would be renamed to Emily in Rome. But now that Season 5 has wrapped, one question is lingering just as loudly as the show’s cliffhangers: will Marcello return in Emily in Paris Season 6?
Marcello’s arrival in Season 5 felt like a sigh of relief… and maybe caused some swooning. When Gabriel abandoned an inexperienced Emily on the ski slopes for Camille in Megève, she was then rescued by Marcello, prompting a breakup with Gabriel and a spontaneous trip to Rome. Unlike her other love interests, Marcello represented a calmer, more grounded version of romance for Emily — one that didn’t revolve around missed timing or unresolved tension. Or so we thought. Emily’s faux pas when she believed the ring Marcello had been keeping in his bag was for her led her to the realization that though her heart is tied to Marcello, it will always belong to Paris. (I’m sorry to all my fellow Marcello girls. I brought the tissues if you need them.)
Like all relationships, Emily and Marcello had their fair share of challenges to overcome. It may have looked like a spinoff of Audrey Hepburn’s life in Roman Holiday at first, but Rome wasn’t all cannolis and cuddling for the pair. Emily was emotionally threatened by some of Marcello’s undeniably gorgeous ex-flames, deemed untrustworthy by Marcello’s sisters, and constantly warned not to get “too close.” All was made right when Emily finally voiced these concerns to Marcello, revealing her own personal growth after years of running away from her issues instead of facing them head-on.
I especially loved the analogy that was used — Emily expressed how her life was starting to feel like her Fendi purse from her grandmother that was eventually revealed to be a fake. Opening an office in Rome wasn’t going well for Agence Grateau, new business partners had proven to be challenging, and worst of all, Emily was worried her relationship with Marcello was also inauthentic. So to prove otherwise, Marcello takes her to Fendi and tells her to pick out any bag she wants. A real one. Excuse me while I cry.
Emily and Marcello’s relationship may have ended, but it did so on surprisingly good terms, leaving fans wondering whether Marcello’s story is truly finished or simply paused. Emily in Paris has a habit of reintroducing characters when we least expect it, especially when they’re tied to major emotional growth. However, with Marcello taking on Muratori as its CEO and Emily returning to Paris (and potentially accepting Gabriel’s invite to meet him in Greece), things remain unclear. At the time of writing, Season 6 of Emily in Paris is unconfirmed, as is Marcello’s return to the show. Whether Marcello’s story is over or simply waiting for its next chapter, one thing’s for sure: in Emily in Paris, no love interest ever really disappears — they just wait for the next flight.