EXCLUSIVE: A new heartthrob is coming to Virgin River. Mitchell Slaggert (Landman, The Sex Lives of College Girls) is set for a major recurring role on the upcoming eighth season of the Netflix romantic drama, which recently started production in Vancover.

Slaggert will play Eddie, a charismatic EMT who may surprise you by fixing your soul along with your body. He’s a laidback charmer who never pictured himself in a small town, but with natural curiosity and a zeal for life, Eddie is going to explore all that Virgin River has to offer.

It is unclear who Eddie’s employer is but, given the nature of his work, he likely will have interactions with Doc (Tim Matheson) and Mel (Alexandra Breckenridge) as well as Fire Chief Kaia (Kandyse McClure) and, if he recovers quickly after the motorcycle crash in the Season 7 finale, volunteer firefighter Brady (Ben Hollingsworth).

And, given the nature of Virgin River, Eddie will certainly get involved in romantic entanglements.

Slaggert has necessary credentials — he played Kimberly’s (Pauline Chalamet) love interest as a series regular on Season 2 of HBO Max’s The Sex Lives of College Girls. And he played the title character and male lead opposite Sasha Pieterse in the Lifetime holiday movie A Carpenter Christmas Romance, written and executive produced by Sarah Drew.

To commemorate the start of production on Season 8 of Virgin River, Breckenridge posted a selfie with co-lead Martin Henderson two weeks ago. The series’ typical timeline has been for a season to be released about a year after filming starts. (With Season 7, it was exactly one calendar year.)