The Cleaning Lady gets a renewal and a big behind the scenes change

The Cleaning Lady is coming back for season 4, but there’s a significant change behind the scenes.

The series has been a sleeper success for FOX, centering around Thony De La Rosa (Elodie Yung) a former surgeon now struggling as a cleaning woman in Las Vegas while caring for an ailing son. After seeing mobster Arman Morales (Adan Canto) kill a rival, Thony manages to plead for her life by offering her services as both doctor and “cleaner” for crime operations.

This throws Thony into a complex world where she's caught not only between the mob and the feds but her complicated feelings for Arman. The show has done well in the ratings to earn surprising renewals for second and third seasons. 

Season 3 returned without Adan Canto, who was battling cancer as the series went back into production after the Hollywood strikes. To account for his absence, the showrunners had Arman abducted with the hope that Canto would be able to return to the role by the finale. Tragically, Canto passed away in January 2024.

With a bit of CGI trickery, Canto's Arman was written out of the series in season 3, episode 6, "El Reloj," where he was being held hostage in a vehicle. In order to save Thony, Arman sacrificed himself and sent the vehicle over a cliff. The episodes following in the third season explored the fallout as various new forces came into play.

The Cleaning Lady was expected to be renewed and now FOX has officially made the decision to move forward with a fourth season, but it comes with changes. Per TV Line, co-showrunners Miranda Kwok and Jeannine Renshaw, who served as co-showrunners will not be returning in that capacity next season.

There’s no word on why the pair are leaving and the departure is a surprise given they handled the challenge of Canto’s passing and the shakeup to the show as best as could be expected. They had also given the show the complex storylines that made it a winner with fans. It may be a network decision to change things up and try to spark the show further for viewers, perhaps adding in more action.

The show will have time to find a new showrunner as it’s being held for midseason in 2025. The outlet also reports that season 4 will have 12 episodes. There is, of course, the concern that a new showrunner may shake things up too much but, still, at least fans know The Cleaning Lady is returning for another year.

The Cleaning Lady season 3 airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on Fox.