All Your (Thirsty) Questions About 'Rivals' Season 2, Answered

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If you spent the past week coping with...*looks around*...everything by watching Rivals, then you are not alone. The pulpy and incredibly horny Hulu/Disney+ series (words that should never be used together, but here we are) follows a rivalry between aristocrats in the English countryside and is best described as Bridgerton meets The Crown meets a 1980s fever dream. And considering it ended on a massive cliffhanger, the need for season 2 is urgent. Here's what we know. But first, this photo:

Has Rivals Season 2 Been Green-Lit?

Rudely, no. Not sure what Mickey Mouse and his "associates" at Disney+ are doing, but I'm taking it personally.

The good news? Liam Keelan, who is Disney's Senior Vice President, implied season 2 is coming during an interview with The Times: “You’d have to be living in a cave not to have come across Rivals,"he said, ever-so modestly. "Everyone’s talking about it. I’ve seriously never known anything like it. But it’s been on the platform for just over a week, so give us a chance, but hopefully more news to come. Suffice to say, we love the show.”

Showrunner Dominic Treadwell-Collins, meanwhile, told Digital Spy that "We've got the rights to all of Jilly Cooper's novels. We get through about half of the book in this series, so there's hope for more."

There's Still Plenty of Source Material

Rivals is based on Jilly Cooper's book of the same name—but season 1 only covers the first half of the novel. This means we have an entire second half waiting in the wings just begging to be adapted.

When Will Rivals Season 2 Drop?

Rivals started filming in March 2023 and dropped its first season just over a year later. It seems safe to assume that if a new season starts filming in March 2025, we could be watching it by Fall 2026.

Either way, the cast is excited about a potential return. Danny Dyer—aka fan fave Freddie Jones—told Radio Times that filming the show might even take precedent over his return to EastEnders (another popular series in Britain), saying, "We might be busy on the second series of Rivals so you know, Walford or Rivals–maybe I can do both."

What Would Rivals Season 2 Be About?

Since the show's first season only covers half the book, there's plenty of plot and character development left to explore. Some big questions from the finale?

1. Is Tony dead after being hit on the head?

2. Will Rupert end up with Cameron or Taggie?

3. Are Lizzie and Freddie end-game?

4. Will Declan go after Maud now that she's finally left him?

Circling Back to: Is Tony Dead?

Rivals ends with Tony on the floor in a pool of blood...but he looked pretty alive to me. As for whether he lives to see a second season, Dominic Treadwell-Collins told TV Insider, "There are so many possibilities about what could happen but what we do know is revenge is a dish best served on television."

Some Major Easter Eggs Could Get Answered in Season 2...

...Especially when it comes to the contents of that mysterious envelope Declan slid into his jacket pocket before his interview with Rupert.

"At the end of episode 4, when Declan has been interviewing Rupert, he’s got this envelope and we don’t know what’s in this envelope," Dominic Treadwell-Collins told TV Insider. "And you see when he burns it, the name Perdita. We’ve talked about the Cooperverse and always thought, how can we hopefully run with these characters and see more from them? We’ve laid down a lot of Easter eggs."

A Rivals Spin-Off Could Be in the Works

Specifically, a spin-off of Rivals'show-within-a-show, Four Men Went to Mow, about hot shirtless farmers. Dominic Treadwell-Collins told The Times they'd "love to" make it and even "have a synopsis as the writers had to know what it was, so we’re ready to go.”

SEATED to say the least.

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