Fresh off of its Season 2 renewal, Netflix’s Bridgerton dropped some major news. It was just announced that they found their Kate Sheffield for Season 2!
Just a few weeks ago, the adored period drama was renewed for a second season— to nobody’s surprise. The show was breaking records as Netflix’s most-watched series, right off of the bat.
The second season is expected to “chronicle the pursuit of a suitable marriage for the eldest Bridgerton sibling, Anthony,” as told by Deadline. The charming and promiscuous Anthony is played by Jonathan Bailey (Crashing).
Teased by the show’s creator, Chris Van Dusen (Grey’s Anatomy), he told Today with Hoda & Jenna, “We have a bunch of new characters we are going to be introducing.”
Show writer Abby McDonald prepped her followers for Bridgerton’s newest announcement. She wrote, “#Bridgerton Hive, you’re about to have a very good day…” ending with a kissing emoji.
Bridgerton writer teases big reveal
Fans burst into excitement, commenting their speculation and berating McDonald for the tease. Many guessed that new casting decisions were forthcoming as it was previously posted on a fan account that Sex Education’s Simone Ashley was cast in the show to play Kate Sheffield.
As the romance series is based on a book series by Julia Quinn, fans of the show are comparing it to the already-established timeline. In the novel series, Kate is the main character in book two. She becomes Anthony’s main love interest, after forbidding him to marry her sister. It’s the classic enemies-to-lovers trope!
In anticipation for her casting announcement, fans in Brazil got “Kate” to trend on Twitter.
Ashley’s casting rumor ties back to the actor’s agency, Identity Agency Group, posting an image of the actor with the caption, “I am SO excited that my powerhouse of a client @simoneasshley has just booked a new MAJOR lead on a MAJOR series for Netflix. Can’t wait for the permission to be granted to announce!”
A few hours later, it was confirmed by the official Netflix Twitter account and the Bridgerton account that the speculation was correct: Simone Ashley has been cast to play Kate Sheffield.
Simone Ashley will be playing Kate Sheffield
Bridgerton tweeted, “Quite the juicy bit of gossip, dear readers… This author is certainly looking forward to many a column covering Miss Kate Sharma” along with a bee emoji.
This tweet quoted Netflix’s announcement which included the big casting news and a little description of Kate, for those who haven’t read the book series. They wrote, “Kate is a smart, headstrong young woman who suffers no fools — Anthony Bridgerton very much included.”
While there’s no clue as to whether or not the Bridgerton television series will follow the books, fans are hopeful that Kate will remain a fan favorite and that Simone Ashley has what it takes to bring the character to life.
Bridgerton Season 1 is currently streaming on Netflix.