It might only feel like yesterday when you were settling into the first season of Netflix’s hit series, Bridgerton but it’s about to return for season two. Having already watched Daphne come out of her shell to find love, pined over the Duke and his spoon and discovered the true identity of Lady Whistledown, season two will introduce entirely new plot lines and characters, making it just as binge worthy as the first.

We’ve discovered even more details about the new season of Bridgerton, coming to Netflix on 25th March 2022, thanks to an interview with the show’s stars from Entertainment Weekly. Cast members, including returning favourites like Nicola Coughlan and Jonathan Bailey as well as Simone Ashley, who is joining the series for season two, gave some serious hints about what their characters will be up to come March.

Here’s what we learnt from the interview…

Season two of Bridgerton will focus on Anthony Bridgerton’s (Jonathan Bailey) attempts to find love having been rejected by Siena (Sabrina Bartlett). According to EW, he finds himself interested in two sisters from the same family and enters into a love triangle.

“You can understand why he’s drawn to both,” Bailey says of the sisters, Edwina and Kate Sharma. “And they’re both drawn to him in turn. It’s an interesting love triangle; it’s dangerous when it’s siblings. It’s bestial between them in a way season 1 wasn’t. They’re all animals with each other.”

The various romances that take place in season two will be centred on one theme, according to the show’s creator Chris Van Dusen. “The main theme of season 2 is head versus heart,” Van Dusen told EW. “It’s true for Anthony and Kate, and it’s also true for Penelope. Her heart is with Lady Whistledown, but even she has to wonder if being London’s most notorious gossip writer is the wisest thing.”

Bailey also commented on this important theme, telling EW: “Edwina and Kate are the embodiment of [Anthony’s] approaches to love — one is head, one is heart,” says Bailey. “The push and pull [illustrates] how intense it is to fall in love in a society that is so rigid, where the gender roles are so specific, and how much those roles can be completely counterproductive to happiness, progression, and to love.”

The stories spread by Lady Whistledown are what move the plot forward in Bridgerton. And Nicola Coughlan whose character (spoiler alert) is revealed to be Lady Whistledown at the end of the first season has some interesting thoughts on why gossip will be more than just a trivial matter in season two of the show:

“Often, we perceive gossip as a very modern invention — but it really isn’t. When women had no agency in their lives, this was all they were deemed to be good for. So why be ashamed to participate in it?”

It’s certainly given us a new way to think about gossip. Plus, it almost always makes for great TV.

Bridgerton has been praised in the past for focussing on the female gaze during sex scenes, particularly between Daphne and the Duke. And it seems that this is going to be more important than ever in the new season of the show.

Coughlan told EW that this season aims to ask the question of its female characters: ‘What were their wants and desires?’” adding: “They weren’t these one-dimensional people who just did needlework. They had real lives and wants and needs and feelings.”

Bailey also commented on the same topic: “the female gaze is so important because there are many ways people communicate by sex, and what sex means, and what your body means to someone else. It’s important that there’s an inversion of sexuality and how people are exploited in the storytelling of sex.”

If there was a romance greater than the Duke’s and Daphne’s in the first season of Bridgerton, it could only be in the friendship between Penelope (Coughlan) and Eloise (Claudia Jesse). But season two will see the friends face some problems, as Eloise makes her debut on the marriage market.

“It felt like the most uncomplicated love that there was,” says Jessie. “But they’re getting older, and they each have secrets. It will shake them both.”

We can handle romantic breakups but friendship breakups? Please – it’s too much. We can hardly wait until March to see how the two women navigate the issues that come with their new lives.

Images: Netflix