Bridgerton casts Sex Education star Simone Ashley as new female lead for second series

18 February 2021, 10:51 | Updated: 20 September 2021, 09:11

By Naomi Bartram

@naomibartram

Simone Ashley will be playing Anthony Bridgerton's love interest Kate Sharma.

Netflix recently revealed that Bridgerton will be back for a second series later this year.

And this time around, the story will focus on Viscount Anthony Bridgerton and his new love interest Kate Sharma, who will be played by Simone Ashley.

Announcing the news on Twitter, Netflix said: “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.”

25-year-old Simone is best known as Olivia Hanan in Netflix’s Sex Education and has also starred in ITV dramas Broadchurch and The Sister.

Read More: Were the Bridgertons a real family and how historically accurate is the Netflix drama?

And it seems like fans of the show are excited about her latest role, with one writing: “I must say i expected a casting like this. I am so overjoyed. Thank you so much Netflix.”

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A post shared by Simone Ashley (@simoneasshley)

“OMG she’s gonna kill it!!!! I know her from Sex Education and I loved her!!!,” said another.

Simone isn’t the only new star to be joining the line up, as Bridgerton's showrunner Chris Van Dusen said on the Today show in January: “We have a bunch of new characters we are going to be introducing.

“Anthony is going to have a love interest next season, and I think it’s going to be as sweeping and moving and as beautiful as viewers of the first season have come to expect from the show.”

Season two is based on the second book by author Julia Quinn and will follow the eldest Bridgerton sibling Anthony - who is played by Jonathan Bailey.

Filming is due to start in the UK during the spring.

This comes after the first series of Bridgerton arrived on Netflix late last year and became the streaming service’s biggest show of 2020.

82 million households around the world tuned in during the first 28 days, surpassing The Witcher which received 72 million views.

The stars of season one include Regé-Jean Page as the mysterious Duke of Hastings, opposite Phoebe Dynevor as Daphne Bridgerton.

Now Read: Where was Bridgerton filmed? Set locations for the Netflix drama revealed