‘Catfish’ Co-Host Max Joseph Leaving MTV Series After 7 Seasons

Catfish will be saying goodbye to one of its longtime hosts.

Max Joseph announced Wednesday that the current season of the reality series will be his last, with his final episode airing on Aug. 22.

“Hey guys, the time has come, sadly, for me to move on from Catfish,” Joseph said in a statement Wednesday. “Working on this show for the last seven years has been one of the most meaningful experiences of my life. I’ve learned a lot about myself, my country and human nature in general. Nev [Schulman] and I have become brothers and our bromance has blossomed before your eyes.”

“For a while now I have been straddling two careers as TV host and filmmaker and, while this level of busy-ness is a dream come true, my life can no longer sustain it,” he added. “With Catfish still going strong after 7 seasons, 115 episodes, 31 specials and showing no sign of slowing down, I feel it is finally the time for me to make my exit. Although I have a heavy heart, I am also excited for everything that’s to come for myself, for Nev, for our crew and for the show. Thank you for watching, thank you for the love and for the memes.”

Catfish co-host Schulman also issued his own statement about the departure.

“Working with Max on Catfish has been one of the most meaningful experiences of my life,” he said. “What started as a casual friendship quickly turned into a brotherhood. Thanks to Max, over the last six years I’ve learned as much about the internet and society as I have about myself. Max isn’t just a co-host, he’s a partner. His ability to listen, empathize and advise is astounding. Nobody cuts through the noise and dishes the hard truth better than he does. I’m going to miss him a lot. He’s my best friend and one of the best colleagues anyone could hope for.”

“As sad as I am though that Max is leaving the show, it brings me great joy to know that he is following his heart,” he continued. “While selfishly I’d love to keep him all to myself, I know that unleashing the creativity and passion that he has will benefit so many of us. If you don’t already know about Max’s amazing work as a filmmaker, check out his website maxjoseph.com. Good luck, my friend, and there’s really no excuse why you can’t video chat in from time to time ;)”

Back in December, PEOPLE writes, Joseph shared his feelings about the MTV show reaching the 100-episode milestone, which follows the two hosts tracking down online daters to bring them face-to-face with the partners while exposing their fake personas.

“One hundred episodes means a lot of flights and it means a lot of Hilton Garden Inns,” he said. “It means a lot of emotional ups and downs and being in people’s living rooms and on weird couches and listening to people’s stories and kind of embedding ourselves in the lives of many different Americans. We’re mostly interacting with people in their late teens, early to mid-20s. But along the way, we’re seeing everything in between, and it’s been a real eye-opener, socially and politically. It’s definitely affected me irreversibly.”

Joseph’s exit comes over a month since MTV resumed production on the series after Schulman was accused of sexual misconduct by a woman who was on the series. He denied the allegation and an internal investigation found them “not credible and without merit.”

Catfish airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on MTV.