Laxatives, Piglets & An Aidan Turner Shrine: The Cast Of Rivals Takes Us Behind The Scenes Of Series 2 Part 2
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As series 2, part 2 arrives, the stars of Disney+'s Jilly Cooper adaptation tell us what their characters would be up to in 2026 – and what they'd smuggle off set
Mark your calendars: Rivals is almost back. And with it, more TV-franchise warfare, extra-marital affairs, and polo games – all set to a soundtrack of 80s classics, and backdropped against the delightfully jubilant, and scandalous world, of Jilly Cooper’s Cotswolds.
Returning to Disney+ on 11 November for series 2 part 2, the bonkbuster is more high stakes than ever. With the world of Rutshire still reeling from Monica’s death, the stage is set for a series of scandal, love, betrayal and some very heated rivalries.
We sat down with the cast – including Aidan Turner (Declan), Alex Hassell (Rupert), Katherine Parkinson (Lizzie), Bella Maclean (Taggie), Luca Pasqualino (Bas), Danny Dyer (Freddie), Lisa McGrillis (Valerie), Emily Atack (Sarah) and Victoria Smurfit (Maud) – to talk favourite costumes, contraband and the characters they’d most like to play.
(c) Disney+
Rivals Cast Interview
If your characters were transplanted from the 1980s into 2026, what would they be getting up to today?
Katherine: I think Lizzie’s got several younger boyfriends. And she’s a showrunner on a show called Rivals.
Lisa: Valerie has her own version of TOWIE, but filmed in the Cotswolds – like The Real Housewives of the Cotswolds. It would all be based around her shop and her customers. She’d have had a lot of work done as well – a full 80s facelift.
Katherine: And Lizzie and Valerie would be together.
Victoria: I think Maud would be cancelled by everybody she meets.
Aidan: It would be interesting, because you’d have phones, so that would change everything. There’d be WhatsApp groups. It would be less clandestine. It would change behaviour dramatically to have phones and faster cars – it takes Declan forever to get anywhere.
Alex: I think Rupert would probably be getting up to the same things, but having a harder time getting away with it.
Luke: I think Bas would be doing pretty much the same sort of thing, but with the technological advances of today. He’d still be chasing the ladies, just on his phone.
Bella: I wonder whether Taggie would be focusing on her cooking career more – we were talking about Taggie going on Bake Off. She could start a cooking Instagram or TikTok, but would she find Instagram too anxiety-inducing? She’s a sensitive flower. She might just say, ‘No, it’s not for me.’
(c) Disney+
As ever, there are some gorgeous costumes this season. Did you have a favourite?
Lisa: For the Bonfire Night episode I had an amazing pink ski suit on. It was quite cold when we were shooting, and everyone was freezing – but I was so warm.
Katherine: Lizzie’s quite a practical dresser, but I did rather like the Laura Ashley number I got to wear for the hunt ball. It was green, with a velvet bonnet and a big old bow on the back. Ray [Holman], our costume designer, actually gave it to me – though I’m not sure when I’d wear it.
Danny: I feel like Freddie gets dressed by Val a lot…
Katherine: I liked your hunting outfit at the Hunt Ball.
You had a great pair of pink silk pyjamas.
Lisa: They were so static, weren’t they?
Danny: There was a lot of friction there.
Lisa: They were definitely not silk – they were satin.
Katherine: Do you think they were vintage pyjamas?
Danny: Probably, Ray doesn’t mess about.
Emily: I wear this beautiful silver dress – she’s heavily pregnant at that point. Shout out to Ray Holman, legend. They made this beautiful piece, and the gloves. Even with a big pretend pregnancy belly, I felt very glamorous. I loved that.
Victoria: Ray creates these outfits, these gowns – the construction is so impeccable. He’s epic.
Aidan: There’s a tux Declan wears in the second series. It’s probably just a normal tux, but he wore a little pendant thing at the collar – a bit western. I quite liked that one.
Luke: I always say the navy blue double-breasted suit – I love that. But in episode eight there was a long waxed leather trench coat that I had the pleasure of wearing. It was quite Van Helsing.
Alex: I like all the posh stuff I get to wear, but I also really like just wearing a pair of overalls, boots and a vest by the combine harvester.
Bella: Taggie has a Cinderella moment. She wears this beautiful pink gown and her hair is all done up. It’s lovely.
(c) Disney+
Is there anything you’ve taken from set – or anything you’d love to take?
Katherine: I mean Lisa steals things all the time…
Lisa: Katherine steals from the snack tray. There are often little chocolate bars laid out, and she empties them all into her bag. She’s always got stolen chocolate on her.
Danny: I quite liked the animals. I’d nick a hound.
Lisa: That piglet in the hunt ball scene, I’d have taken the piglet.
Alex: I drive an Aston Martin in it, so I’d take that.
Bella: I was going to say a dog, but that sounds quite harrowing. We had a puppy for a period, and that was really cute.
Alex: They said that I was being too cute because I just couldn’t get over that there’s this lovely little dog there all of the time. I failed to be Rupert-y.
Emily: When you look at the sets and the furniture – the O’Haras’ kitchen is how I’m having my kitchen done at the moment. I’d steal everything in that kitchen. The sets are incredible.
Aidan: I’ve stolen a kitchen table from a set before – the table from Poldark. It’s in my kitchen. On Rivals, I’d steal Declan’s watches. He has two really nice ones, and I recently lost mine. My wife doesn’t know yet.
Victoria: Well now she does.
You filmed Poldark at the O’Haras’ house too – and apparently there’s a shrine to you there?
Aidan: There is. I’m in the women’s bathroom.
Victoria: You get to pee and look at his face. It’s so strange.
Bella Maclean as Taggie O’Hara in Rivals season 2 (c) Disney
If you could swap characters with another cast member for a day, who would you choose?
Katherine: I’d like to be full-on baddie Tony. David does it so well, and there’s a real power in being that angry. It’s fun to be evil.
Lisa: I’d slip into Charles Fairburn – his little knitted waistcoat and bow tie, slightly balding. He’s just so sad. It’s such a beautiful performance; he’s a beautifully nuanced character.
Danny: I’d go Daddy Declan. He’s got a slightly better tash than me.
Emily: I always say Maud. She’s so complicated, and I love that. I always say Sarah and Maud should have more scenes together – they’d either hate each other or be friends.
Victoria: I’d love a crack at Monica, just because she’s the antithesis of Maud.
Aidan: Baddingham would be really fun to play.
Bella: Tony. He’s so different from Taggie – so authoritative, so much darker, relentless in the pursuit of vengeance.
Alex: I’d quite like a go at Declan – when he does all of his massive, passionate monologues. That would be fun.
Rivals season 2 part 2 is set to air in November after a shocking mid-season finale. (Disney)
What’s one lesson you learnt from your character this season?
Lisa: The lesson I’ve learnt from Valerie is: don’t put laxatives in your child’s drink.
Danny: Have you though, Lisa? I’m not sure she has, to be honest with you.
Katherine: I’ve become a really proficient typist.
Danny: She hasn’t.
Katherine: I did a course.
Danny: It’s quite embarrassing how bad you are. I like that though, there’s some sort of charm in that to be honest with you.
Victoria: Don’t sleep with anyone other than the person you’ve committed your life to. Not that I needed to learn that.
Aidan: Declan isn’t focused on material things. He can drive a really bad car and not care – and I don’t think he’s trying to prove a point. For somebody who’s narcissistic, he doesn’t care how he looks. It’s a funny balance, but I really appreciate that about him. I wish I was more like that.
Bella Maclean as Taggie O’Hara in Rivals season 2 (c) Disney
And your favourite on-set memory from this season?
Alex: The hunt ball was pretty amazing.
Luca: Whenever we have the big group scenes, when we’re all in together and you know you’re going to be at that location for a week or two, they always feel really fun and special. It makes you feel that you’re really part of something. You feel united.
Rivals returns to Disney+ with three episodes on 11 November, then weekly until finale on 2 December.
You can watch series 1 and series 2 now.
