“Grown-ish” Stars Say Goodbye After Series Finale: 'Friends for Life'

The 'black-ish' spinoff series aired its final episode after six seasons

It's time to say goodbye to grown-ish.

The final episode of the Freeform series aired on Wednesday, May 22, bringing an end to Junior (Marcus Scribner) and Zoey's (Yara Shahidi) journeys after six seasons, and the cast paid tribute to the show across social media to commemorate its end.

"GROWN - NO ISH ????," Shahidi, 24, wrote in the caption of an Instagram post as she shared a photo of the cast celebrating the finale and a selfie from the first day of filming in 2018. "The series FINALE of our 6 year Grownish adventure is TONIGHT… like RIGHT NOW ?? Thank YOU ALL for tuning in every week and giving us a reason to work with such wonderful humans ??."

Luka Sabbat, who starred on the show's first four seasons, commented on Shahidi's post, "All great things come to an end :(??."

Several other cast members shared the same group photo of them on a boat on the water at sunset, including Scribner, 24, Emily Arlook and Trevor Jackson.

"6 seasons later, what a better way to say farewell than to ride off into the literal sunset with my @grownish family. ??," Arlook, 33, captioned her post, which also included some selfies from the boat ride and some photos from the show's first season. "Series finale tonight ?? (last slides are of season 1 babies)."

Scribner thanked fans for their "unending support" in his post as he wrote, "The final episode of our 6 YEAR JOURNEY is here."

Jackson, 27, shared a carousel of photos from throughout filming the series, including several from the cast's celebration of their 100th episode, as he reflected on grown-ish's end. "Life lessons, life long memories and friends for life. growth?ish… grew?ish… Grown?ish. ?????♂?????????????????."

Related: Grown-ish Teases It's 'Ready to Take It to the Next Level' in Star-Studded Final Season (Exclusive)

The series premiered in 2018 as a means of following Zoey, who fans first met on black-ish, through her college career, and saw Junior take the helm in season 5 after Zoey graduated. In season 6, though, Zoey was back in action, as she declared in the teaser for the second half of the final season, "I'm back where it all began."

The final installment was broken into two parts, with the first nine episodes airing last summer before returning to close out the series in March.

At the show's finale party in Los Angeles on May 21, Shahidi told PEOPLE that both black-ish and grown-ish "ushered me to where I am now."

"I feel like black-ish and grown-ish were such a gift, and the last 10 years, it's anchored my life," she shared.

Speaking to how her and her on-screen brother's spinoff series carried on the torch from black-ish, which concluded in 2022 after 8 seasons, Shahidi said, "I think coming into grown-ish was only made possible through the likes of A Different World, through the likes of Living Single, and just every moment where we got to see a black and brown ensemble come together and live life as young adults definitely paved the way."

She said it was "so special" to be part of black-ish to begin with, as a groundbreaking series, and to continue to carry the mantle into grown-ish was "really an honor."

Scribner similarly described the pair's 200-plus episode run as their characters as a "fantastic journey," though he was admittedly "in disbelief" at its ending.

"It's just like hanging out with your group of friends, every single day, as a job. We're the luckiest people on the planet," he told PEOPLE.

Related: Yara Shahidi Praises Her Mother for 'Making Sure That I Experienced Balance' amid Hollywood Stardom (Exclusive)

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Shahidi announced that season 6 would be grown-ish's last in March 2023. In a video, she urged fans not to "be sad, because we're going to do it up big."

"You guys have been with us since season 1, and it has been such an honor to play Zoey and grow up alongside her for the past nine years," the actress said, referring to the origin of the role on black-ish in 2014. "Your support over the last five seasons has really meant the world to us, the cast and crew, and we wanna take the time to thank you all for the love and support that has kept us going."

In a statement, the spinoff's creator, Kenya Barris, called grown-ish an "amazing journey."

"To be able to watch Yara, Marcus and our entire grown-ish family grow up in front of (and in many ways alongside) us over these past several years has been both a joy and an honor," Barris, 49, said. "From the stories we've told to the talent we've fostered and, most importantly, the memories made, I could not be more proud of everything we've accomplished and the -ish family I've been a part of."

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All seasons of grown-ish can be streamed on Hulu.

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