Outlander star Sophie Skelton has revealed she went through a "grieving" process while filming the eighth and final season of the hit historical drama after a teaser trailer dropped and fans took to Reddit with many theories. The actress, who plays Brianna MacKenzie in the series, opened up about her emotional farewell to the show she's been part of for a decade, reports the Daily Record.

Speaking exclusively to Reach Screen Time, the 31 year old said: "Caitríona [Balfe] and I talked about it lot. We both went through it in various phases of grieving."

She added: "We came and went in very funny orders and I think we ended it on a high but I think season eight was great to film because it made us all just reflect a lot and it was beautiful."

Skelton, also known for her roles in Blackbird and Netflix's Castlevania: Nocturne, recalled a particularly poignant moment during filming that left her in tears. She shared: "One of the scenes I was actually most upset was when they were wrapping [Lizzie Wemyss star] Caitlin [O'Ryan] because Caitlin and I are friends and I thought, 'It's fine, I'll see her in real life.' And so I didn't really think I'd feel the way I did."

She continued: "As soon as we finished the scene and they said, 'That's a picture wrap for Caitlin on Outlander,' even now I'm getting goosebumps, I just burst into tears and Caitlin and I just hugged each other and we couldn't stop sobbing."

Skelton went on to detail how she was hit by the enormity of moving back home to England and leaving behind all her Outlander colleagues in Scotland: "It was a really hard state of grieving actually because I lost the country I was living in, I lost the people, family friends, the co-workers and I lost the job."

Though Skelton is now looking towards what lies ahead, she admitted that it was a "really strange grieving process".

Since wrapping up on Outlander last year, Skelton has kept herself occupied with various other ventures, including the Raindance-winning psychological thriller Row.

The actress portrays a "hippie dippy" sailor on a transatlantic rowing expedition to smash the world record, only for the journey to conclude in disaster with one sole survivor attempting to reconstruct the events that led to her crew mates' deaths.

Row also features Nine Perfect Strangers actress Bella Dayne and Akshay Khanna from Murderbot.

Skelton and the remainder of the cast were required to master rowing techniques and spent the entire filming period on a cramped vessel in frequently turbulent waters amid winds exceeding 70mph, with the character being completely different from Brianna and Outlander.

She is currently concentrating on other ventures after recently wrapping work on the I Can Only Imagine sequel alongside Dennis Quaid and Milo Ventimiglia.

ROW will be available on DVD & Digital platforms from September 29

Outlander: Blood of My Blood airs on Fridays on Starz in the USA and on Saturdays on MGM+ via Prime Video in the UK

Outlander season 8 will air on Starz and MGM+ via Prime Video in early 2026