What happened to Diego Borella? Emily in Paris assistant director’s on-set cause of death explored

Assistant director of Emily in Paris, Diego Borella, recently passed away at the age of 47. Borella reportedly had a heart attack on August 21, 2025, while working on the set of the Netflix series in Venice, as stated by La Repubblica.

The incident happened at Hotel Danieli, and detailed information on Borella’s health issues has not been revealed yet. However, Diego collapsed before being announced dead, and filming for the show was paused on that particular day until it continued on August 23, 2025.

A spokesperson for Paramount Television Studios also told BBC News in another statement:

“We are deeply saddened to confirm the sudden passing of a member of the ‘Emily in Paris’ production family. Our hearts go out to the individual’s family and loved ones during this incredibly difficult time.”

Medical authorities attempted to revive Diego Borella

The entire team of Emily in Paris has been in Venice for the last few days as part of wrapping up the filming for the upcoming fifth season, as per Page Six. The outlet stated that the filming for the romantic comedy show was originally supposed to end on Monday, August 25.

However, it remains unknown if there was any kind of delay that emerged as a result of Diego’s sudden demise. Notably, Diego collapsed at the time when everyone was preparing for the final shot to complete the filming of the series.

While speaking to The Independent, the Venice health service shared other details on the events that happened after Borella collapsed.

“Our ambulance arrived at 18.42 (on Thursday evening). Medics made attempts to resuscitate him. But in the end all efforts proved fruitless. At around 19.30, he was pronounced deceased,” the statement reads.

As of this writing, Netflix has not commented anything about Diego Borella’s death. Apart from his work as an assistant director, Borella was additionally an expert in other fields, including poetry, children’s stories, and fairy tales, as per Page Six. IMDb revealed that back in 2020, Diego also worked on another series, DOC - Nelle tue mani.

Emily in Paris Season 5 is arriving on Netflix this year

The official website of Tudum reported on August 20, 2025, that Emily in Paris Season 5 will be streaming from December 18 this year. The report stated that apart from the lead, Lily Collins, some new faces were joining the show, such as Bryan Greenberg, Michele Laroque, and Minnie Driver.

The Instagram handle of the series also shared the first-look images of the upcoming season around four days ago. A BTS preview was also uploaded, where Lily Collins was spotted on top of a boat. A day after the pictures went viral, Lily posted some glimpses of herself from Venice and wrote:

“Joy ride to and from work with the best…”

Darren Star, the creator of the show, also said in a statement that the new season will be a story of two different cities, Rome and Paris, and they are excited to bring the journey of Emily to all the fans.

The latest season will release almost a year after Season 4 aired on Netflix. The show originally premiered back on October 2, 2020.