Bridgerton season two is officially official.
We would have been shocked right out of our petticoats had Netflix not opted for another season (or another seven seasons) of one of its biggest hits ever, so the news was no surprise. But still, the news is good.
Lady Whistledown herself confirmed that, like book two, season two will focus on the eldest Bridgerton, Anthony (Jonathan Bailey), who made his mark in season one by trying to ruin Daphne's (Phoebe Dynevor) life with horrible suitors. Now it's Anthony's turn to finally settle down, though that doesn't mean the show will only be about Anthony now.
Just as Daphne and Simon's (Regé-Jean Page) story was peppered by appearances from Anthony, Benedict (Luke Thompson), Colin (Luke Newton), Eloise (Claudia Jessie), Penelope (Nicola Coughlan) and Marina (Ruby Barker), season two will once again provide us with stories of all the Bridgertons and the occasional Featherington.
Bailey opened up about playing the man of the Bridgerton house to E! News and said he felt like a "frontman of a glam rockband in the '80s," but to him, Anthony represents an issue that was just as relevant in Regency times as it is now.
"We've come quite far with the idea of equality between sexes, but you know there's still a lot of conversations that need to be had about men in power," he says. "Hopefully, Anthony is someone who's gonna make people realize that some men just don't have what it takes."
Anthony may kind of suck so far, but Bailey found a way to fall in love with him anyway.
"I think the brilliant thing about a period drama is that the society is so rigid and the expectations on this family are so extreme that you always want to play conflict, and with Anthony there's just so much conflict with everything he's doing," he says. "He means so well and he's got such a good heart and he loves his family and once I fell in love with him and realized that he meant well, that means that you can really push the boundaries as to how unfair and toxic he can be to his lovers and to his sisters and to his mother."
As for Anthony's future in season two, Bailey's got a lot of hopes and dreams.
"I think with Anthony, you just want him to be all right," he says. "You want him to learn how to love himself and hopefully to make some mistakes without those mistakes causing serious hurt to the people that he loves. I want to see him on the dance floor. I want to see him smile a little bit more. I want to see those mutton chops back. There's so much scope for him."
The other major story we're looking forward to in season two is the continued journey of Lady Whistledown, who was revealed at the very end of season one to be none other than Penelope Featherington. Check out our interview with Coughlan and Jessie to hear about how Investigator Eloise might react to the news of her best friend's betrayal.
Season two of Bridgerton will go into production later this spring.