WARNING! This article contains spoilers.
Bridgerton star Simone Ashley has confirmed that she will return for season three of the popular Netflix period drama.
The show’s second season joined the streaming giant on March 25, and it is currently the number one trending show on the platform worldwide.
Season two sees Anthony Bridgerton (played by Jonathan Bailey) set out to find a wife.
At a dinner celebrating South Asian culture hosted by Netflix in Los Angeles on Tuesday, Simone told Deadline: “We’re going to be back! Kate and Anthony are just getting started.”
“In Season 2, there was a lot of push and pull between Kate and Anthony, there were complications with the family, and then they find each other towards the end.”
“I think everything is just starting. I’d like to see Kate just let go a bit more and play more in Season 3 and kind of swim in that circle of love together. I think they both deserve it,” the Sex Education actress added.
Despite fans loving Kate and Anthony’s intense love connection, Simone promised that the Viscountess will thrive on her own.
She said: “She’s in charge of the household now and she’s got big boots to put on. I think she can do it.”
“I want to keep that softness and vulnerability to Kate, for sure, and she can share that with Anthony. I’m just excited for her to have a home and to have a family.”
“I’m excited to see her grow. I think I’d like to see Kate being much braver and less headstrong and more heart strong.”
Instead of Bridgerton’s second season being a story about a man coming in between two women, Simone is proud that it instead focused on the complex relationship between family, love and strong women.
Although it may seem like Kate and her sister Edwina are competing for Anthony, Simone said “it’s more like three love stories are going on at once.”
The actress continued: “It’s very evident that Kate is just trying to protect her sister and if anything, she’s actually being dishonest with herself, therefore being dishonest with her family.”
“She’s not afraid to own the fact that she has feelings about disappointing her family, to have that confrontation to let her family down because she’s put them first her whole life. I think a lot of women can relate to that.”
“And I think it’s so brave of her to actually let that go and eventually after the mistake she makes to come forward. It was also very brave of her sister Edwina to come back together and set each other free.”
“It’s about the love story between the sisters, one between Kate and Anthony, and the love story of family. The Viscount and the Diamond are doing it all for their families and their duty,” the 27-year-old said.
Simone is also proud of how the Sharma family made a name for themselves as immigrants to London from India in a world of such opulence.
“It’s much different for them than it is for the Bridgertons and the other families that we meet in this world. It’s an act of survival, and it goes beyond finding a love match.”
“How am I going to protect and take care of my family, for them to live for them to eat, to be taken care of, and have a roof over their head? That’s the heartbeat I kept throughout the whole series, how important Kate’s family is to her.”
“This wasn’t about who could get the Viscount, it’s so much deeper than that. Kate’s dedication and love for her sister is especially profound.”
“Kate suffered a lot of loss when she was younger which she didn’t deal with because she had to sacrifice her own life to uplift Edwina’s, to give her a chance because she adores her. She doesn’t want her to go through the same things that she did.”
Both seasons of Bridgerton are available to stream now on Netflix.
