Get ready for another promenade. Bridgerton became an instant hit after making its Netflix debut on Christmas Day — and fans aren’t the only ones who are craving more.
The series follows the Bridgerton family — played by Jonathan Bailey, Phoebe Dynevor, Claudia Jessie, Luke Newton, Luke Thompson, Florence Hunt, Will Tilston and Ruth Gemmell — as they attempt to find love in Regency-era high society. In season 1, eldest sister Daphne (Dynevor) and her relationship with London’s most eligible bachelor Simon Basset (Regé-Jean Page) pulled much of the story’s focus.
Before the period drama was officially renewed, rumors of a second season emerged when it was reported that production was slated to resume in England in March. After reaching more than 63 million households, Bridgerton is almost guaranteed to return for more. However, even the cast is in the dark about what might happen next.
“We all really hope [it will be renewed],” breakout star Nicola Coughlan (a.k.a. Penelope Featherington) told Variety in December 2020. “It’s a real joy to make and the response has been beyond our wildest dreams. But until the Netflix gods come down and bless us, we don’t know.”
Despite keeping the specifics top-secret, creator Chris Van Dusen has big ideas for continuing the show, which is based on Julia Quinn‘s popular romance book series. The author gave each Bridgerton family member their own chance to shine — and Van Dusen is hoping to do the same.
“Obviously we’re just focused on the first season right now. And while that focuses on the eldest Bridgerton daughter Daphne and her love affair with Simon, we know there are eight Bridgerton siblings [and] there are eight Bridgerton books,” Van Dusen told Cosmopolitan UK in December 2020. “So, in success I would love to be able to explore love stories and romances for all the Bridgerton brothers and sisters, of course.”
However, viewers haven’t seen the last of Daphne and Simon, who seemingly get their happily ever after in the final moments of season 1. Page previously hinted that things could still go south for the couple if they returned for new episodes.
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“I think that love is an evolving thing,” the British heartthrob told TV Guide shortly after the show’s premiere. “It’s a living, breathing thing that needs tending, that needs looking after, that needs mending when it gets worn or torn. They get married very young. They still have a lot of growing to do. They have a lot to do, and I think it’ll always be fun to watch them do that together.”
Four months later, Netflix announced that Page will not be returning for season 2.
Scroll down for everything we know so far about season 2 of Bridgerton:
Netflix confirmed on January 21 that the steamy series will be back for a second season with Anthony Bridgerton (Bailey) at the center of attention. "The incomparable cast of Bridgerton will return to production in the Spring of 2021," a statement from Lady Whistledown read. "This author has been reliably informed that Lord Anthony Bridgerton intends to dominate the social season. I will have my pen ready to report on any and all of his romantic activities." The move echoes the timeline of Quinn's books, the second of which is titled The Viscount Who Loved Me.
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One more season isn't good enough for Van Dusen. While speaking with Collider after the show's debut, the Bridgerton creator hinted that there could be up to eight additional seasons: one for each sibling. "I would love to be able to focus and really tell stories and love stories for all the Bridgerton siblings. For each character, for sure," Van Dusen said. "I think we've done some work in season 1 to set up other characters [for more]. ... I think it's a deep well of story for us to explore."
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Golda Rosheuvel, who commands the screen as Queen Charlotte, has her own ideas for the next batch of twists and turns. "If Chris Van Dusen comes to me and says, 'Golda, what would you like to see in the second season if we have a second season?' I would say, 'The Queen and Eloise have to get together and form an alliance and find out who Whistledown is,'" the British actress told Insider in January. "I think it's the intrigue of meeting her match. ... I think there's a lot of joy in that for Queen Charlotte because she loves a little bit of gossip."
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Fans of the novels might expect to see Anthony (Bailey) at the center of the next season. "I'd like to see Daphne get involved in Anthony's love life, since he was so involved in hers," Dynevor teased during a recent interview with Harper's Bazaar. However, she still thinks Simon and Daphne have more to offer. "There's no such thing as a happy ending, is there?" she added. "I think love's always shifting and changing. So who knows? I'd like to see what happens next."
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According to Coughlan, the show's creators are trying to ensure that their plans stay hush-hush. "They're keeping everything super, super secretive so I don't really know yet," she said while speaking to TVLine in January. "Trust me, the cast, we've been speculating heavily. I text Claudia Jessie a lot and ask, 'What do you think is happening?' I've been speculating a lot about story lines and just trying to apply logic where I don't know if logic works."
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Season 2 seems like the perfect chance for Penelope to step into the spotlight, Coughlan argued. "I'd love to go on that journey with her, to see how she’s changed," the Derry Girls star said during a December 2020 interview with the U.K.'s Radio Times. "I'd really love to come back because I feel like we've just scratched the surface. And because there's such a huge cast in this show, there's so much more of all the characters. ... There's people I didn't even get to act with."
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Page previously hinted that the second season of the Netflix series might bring trouble in paradise for newlyweds Simon and Daphne, who already faced plenty of challenges on their path to romance. "I'm not sure I believe in paradise. I know that the romance genre generally does — part of the deal is that you get a happy ending," Page told TV Guide in December 2020. "But as far as continuing to explore characters, I think that love is an evolving thing. ... They get married very young. They still have a lot of growing to do. They have a lot to do, and I think it'll always be fun to watch them do that together."
However, in April 2021, Netflix announced that Page will not be returning in season 2.
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While the Bridgerton book series focuses more on the characters' romantic lives, Coughlan is looking forward to seeing Penelope and Eloise's friendship blossom in season 2. "Claudia Jessie is just the light of the world. She’s a properly wonderful person. ... She's a ray of sunshine," the Irish actress told Variety in December 2020. "Penelope has a hard time with her family a lot of the time, but when she's with Eloise, you see most of her true personality. I think she finds Eloise so entertaining and she says all the things Penelope is too frightened to say. I'm all up for more Peneloise."
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As one of the Bridgerton siblings, fans can expect to see Eloise (Jessie) really come into her own in season 2, specifically at her debut ball. “She's going to shake things up and basically take the piss out of it. I'm excited for that,” Jessie told Harper’s Bazaar in January 2021. "But I would really love to see Eloise just really own every space she's in. She had this vision that her sister was the perfect debutante, and then Eloise comes sort of like crashing through with her own personality. She is given a little bit more freedom to be herself, with Phoebe being in a high-status relationship, and it gives Eloise a bit more room to have her own space."
Jessie also teased that Eloise will be “pissed” when she eventually learns the identity of Lady Whistledown. "I just can't imagine what that is going to be like," she said. "That's such a shock to a friendship. You have this woman, this character, this mysterious scribbler that Eloise is basically a bit in love with, and kinda wants to be her best mate — has been lying to her, writing about her family, and causing scandals. To me, that's the most compelling thing in the world."
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Bailey shared a cryptic message for viewers while hinting at what's to come in season 2. "I feel like the campy, plush spectacle of the Bridgerton world is only going to get more pronounced in the best way possible," he told British Vogue in February 2021. "It's mad, and it's brilliant. There are also going to be a lot of brilliant characters introduced in this series — and it's not just Anthony that we're going to delve into. ... There's loads of little Easter eggs for all of the characters."
While he didn't go into detail, Bailey warned fans: "Watch out for the bees."
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Netflix announced Sex Education’s Simone Ashley is taking on the role of Kate Sharma — known as Kate Sheffield in the novels — for season 2. “Get ready to fall in love with Simone Ashley, who will play Kate in season 2 of Bridgerton, Kate is a smart, headstrong young woman who suffers no fools — Anthony Bridgerton very much included,” the official Twitter account for the streaming service tweeted in February 2021.
Courtesy Simone Ashley/Instagram
Newton took to Instagram on March 14 to share footage of himself on the Bridgerton season 2 set again with Bailey and Thompson. “The boys are back in town,” Newton captioned his post.
Courtesy Luke Newton/Instagram
Adjoa Andoh, who plays Lady Danbury, compared Daphne and Simon's future to Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's experience as part of the British royal family. "It's a new married life and they have the baby, so there are all the vagaries of what that is like for young people with a new baby. I mean, Harry and Meghan, what's it like when you have a new baby? How does it affect you when [you're] a young couple with a new baby?" the actress told Entertainment Tonight in March 2021. "I just think we're going to see how Phoebe and Rege's characters, Daphne and Simon, navigate being in love, very in lust still, but with a new baby in their lives. Having to navigate and negotiate that between each other, between their families and between their wider social circles."
Andoh also hinted that Bailey is ready to step up as the season 2 centerpiece — and that the costume department went all out. "The costumes are ridiculous this season. They are stunning beyond stunning," she raved. "I sometimes just want to go, 'That scene can't go that quick because nobody's going to get the full [effect] of the costume.'"
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After causing a frenzy with a March Instagram post, Newton (a.k.a. Colin Bridgerton) was forced to set the record straight about a major season 2 detail. "We haven't actually started [filming] yet," he said during a press conference ahead of the 2021 SAG Awards. "But everyone individually is getting ready and psyched up for season 2."
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Charithra Chandran will play Edwina in season 2 while Rupert Young will play Jack, a new character (not in the books) who has a mysterious connection to the Bridgerton family.
Courtesy of Charithra Chandran/Instagram; Dan Wooller/Shutterstock; Mediapunch/Shutterstock
Bailey and Ashley, who's playing Anthony's love interest on the upcoming season, donned their period garb for a scene at the U.K.'s Ascot Racecourse in April 2021, confirming that production for the Netflix series has officially begun.
Shutterstock; Courtesy of Simone Ashley/Instagram
Rupert Evans will play Edmund Bridgerton, the deceased patriarchy of the family. The character will presumably be explored through flashback scenes of Anthony's childhood before the loss of his father.
Edmund is described as a loving and devoted husband to Violet Bridgerton and an endlessly patient and kind father who takes special pride in guiding his eldest son, Anthony, through life.
Though Page will not return as the Duke of Hastings, his TV wife promised that his character will still be there in spirit. “I think he’ll definitely be referred to a lot," she told The Wrap in June 2021. "I think we’ll see the baby. And we’ll just focus more on her relationship with the Bridgerton family."
She pointed out that fans already know that each book in the series focuses on a different sibling in the family, which means that "no two seasons will be the same." Viewers will miss Simon, but Dynevor thinks they'll eventually come around to a Page-less Bridgerton. “It might be a little bit more of a — not shock, but like a surprise for the fans that love Daphne and Simon’s story so much," she explained. "But I think that’s honestly the joy of the show in the long-term, getting to see these different love stories play out.”
After promising, “every season is going to have its own magic," Dynevor said season 2 will give Daphne time to explore the different bonds with her siblings since her husband Simon won’t be onscreen.
"I think [Simon will] definitely be referred to a lot. I think we’ll see the baby,” she told TheWrap in June 2021. “And we’ll just focus more on her relationship with the Bridgerton Family.”
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While fans enjoyed looking for clues to prove that Penelope was Lady Whistledown in season 1, Coughlan teased that season 2 will be a different experience following the reveal.
“It’s so much fun because last time I got to do it, but in a super subtle way,” she told The Wrap in June 2021. “It could never be overt, because you didn’t want it to be obvious to the audience. So with Penelope’s reveal, you’ll hear people saying, ‘I knew straightaway’ and ‘I never expected it.’ I don’t want to say too much, but you will be on the journey with her this time.”
Coughlan explained that it will be a "really fun thing" to have the viewer in on the secret as Penelope's arc continues to grow.
“Then coming in to season 2, she’s a bit more wise. She knows the game a little bit more, but also getting to see both sides of her and to play, it’s so much fun. I really am having a ball, I can’t lie," she added.
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"I can tell you I just got into the editing bay on the first couple episodes in the second season, and I don't think people are going to be ready," creator Van Dusen told E! News in July 2021. "I think, honestly, it's everything I think audiences loved so much about the first season, but just more. I think we're going to be back with an even greater escape to 19th century Regency London."
Van Dusen highlighted the "magnetic" chemistry between the central couple during season 2.
"You cannot take your eyes off of them when they're together on screen," he explained. "I can't wait for audiences to see that, or really, to feel that. I'm really excited."
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In July 2021, production was forced to stall for 24 hours after a crew member tested positive for coronavirus, Deadline reported. No cast members were exposed to the illness.
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Following a hiatus due to on-set coronavirus cases, showrunner Chris Van Dusen told Variety on August 3, 2021, that production for the show was back in business.
“We are back under way. We had to delay because of COVID, but we’re back in it,” Van Dusen said. “Right now I’m in post, editing our first couple episodes, which are looking great.”
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While speaking with Entertainment Tonight in September 2021, Coughlan hinted that season 2 kicks everything up a notch — especially the romance. "It's such an exciting thing when you do a show that anyone watches and connects to. But the level at which people connected to Bridgerton and the scale is really mind-blowing. I think we really went in more relaxed, which I know maybe some people wouldn't," the Derry Girls star said, noting that the book season 2 is based on is a "fan favorite."
While she couldn't reveal too much at the time, Coughlan added, "The chemistry is quite major, I can say that. ... It's got a whole lot spicier, I will say."
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Ahead of Bridgeton's anticipated return, Nicola Coughlan teased what fans can expect from Penelope Featherington's character arc.
"You definitely see her mature more," she told E! News in September 2021. "I think of it in the Britney [Spears] thing, 'She's not a girl, not yet a woman' in this season. So she's more aware of the power she wields — that doesn't mean she's any better at using it. She definitely gets herself into some sticky situations."
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At Netflix's September TUDUM event, the cast teased Kate and Anthony's "volatile" relationship before showing the first clip from season 2. The video reveals that Kate and Anthony start out not liking each other very much after Kate hears what Viscount Bridgerton is looking for in a potential wife.
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Lady Danbury (Adjoa Andoh) returns in the second season. One sneak peek photo appears to show the respected character presenting the Sharmas to London society. Kate stands with her younger sister Edwina (Charithra Chandran, right) while behind them walks their older sister Mary (Shelley Conn) with Lady Danbury. The eldest Sharma daughter already came out to society, and her subsequent marriage was pretty scandalous.
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Another photo from the new season shows Lady Violet Bridgerton (Ruth Gemmell) doing her best to look friendly and inviting while her children scowl. Eloise (Claudia Jessie) looks as uninterested as ever in finding a husband, and Anthony doesn't seem too keen on whoever he and Benedict (Luke Thompson) are glaring at.
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The Younger alum dished on how her character has evolved since the conclusion of the first season.
"She’s matured," Dynevor told Harper’s Bazaar UK in an interview published in October 2021. "It’s so much fun to play because she knows herself and she’s saying it how it is.”
While Dynevor will return for the second iteration of the Shondaland series, her onscreen love interest has notably bowed out.
"Me and Regé went through so much together, and I’ll always have that with him,” she told the outlet at the time. “It was quite an incredible experience for both of us, and we got to lean on each other through it, so yes, it is odd not having him in season two."
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