The return of Disney+’s hit show Rivals has delivered plenty of on-screen drama, but the stories of life behind the camera have been just as entertaining. Cast members and producers have revealed a mix of surreal, funny and moving moments from filming.
Behind-the-scenes facts about Rivals season 2
1. There was a shrine to Aidan Turner in the women’s loos of one of the Rivals filming locations
It isn’t the first time actor Aidan Turner has had to pretend that Chavenage House, near Tetbury in Gloucestershire, is his home. In the Rivals series, the Elizabethan manor house steps in as the home of his character, TV presenter Declan O’Hara. In his breakthrough role in Poldark, Chavenage House was also his on-screen home.
It looked rather different this time, however, thanks to drastically different set dressing. But those differences didn’t extend into the women’s loos, where Turner has said he discovered a “Poldark shrine” – insisting it was taken down. “It was just a big picture of my face looking at everyone who went to the bathroom,” he told the BBC. “It was a bit creepy. In the men’s, there was a sign that said ‘Poldark peed here’. That was quite funny, though. That got to stay.”
2. Jilly Cooper approved every episode script before she died
Very sadly, the visionary creator of Rivals didn’t live to see the outcome of the second season on screen, after dying from a fall in October 2025. But right up until her death, Jilly Cooper was closely involved in the creation of the show – and six weeks before, she had the entire cast over to her Gloucestershire home for a garden party. “She was still so full of life and mischief, and she was so excited about the second series,” says Lisa McGrillis, who plays Valerie. “She was completely across it. She read every single episode, signed it all off.”
3. The first season was so successful, actors pitched themselves for roles in the second season
Rupert Everett was so impressed by the first series of Rivals, he got in touch with the team directly to ask if he could be part of the next series. Helanded himself the role of Malise Gordon, Rupert Campbell-Black’s show-jumping colleague and new husband to his ex-wife, Helen.
4. There are some unexpected cameos
We mightn’t have expected Pat Butcher to appear on our screens in Rivals, but the EastEnders actor Pam St Clement is just one of a range of surprising cameos. She ended up being invited to join the cast as a cameo character by the show’s executive producer Dominic Treadwell-Collins, who used to work as a story editor on the soap opera.
5. The theme tune is inspired by a musical orgasm
Rivals soundtrack composers Natalie Holt and Jack Halama told Michael Beek of BBC Music Magazine that they’d tried to create the “musical version of an orgasm” for the show’s opening titles. They use tango-like rhythms as the backdrop. “The tango felt like the perfect push and pull between lovers, or people having an affair,” explains Natalie. “Then we’ve got this orgasming opera singer over the top.”
6. Queen Camilla visited the set
As a close friend of Jilly Cooper, Queen Camilla visited the set of season two following the death of the Rivals author, as both a fan of the novels and also of the Disney+ adaptation. “It felt like a little bit of Jilly was back,” executive producer Dominic Treadwell-Collins told the Sun. “They are similar women, both funny, smart, kind people. It was really special and moving. We all cried a lot that day.”
7. The dinner party scene was filmed in just one take
There’s a particularly memorable scene in the second season of Rivals, in which Sarah Stratton secretly hires Taggie to cater a party – where chaos ensues. People are shoved into cupboards, and the whole thing is complete madness. Viewers will no doubt be surprised to learn that this calamitous 10-minute scene was somehow shot in a single take – a feat of camerawork, direction and comedy performance.
8. Episodes are being released weekly rather than all at once – with half the season delayed altogether
The second season of Rivals will have 12 episodes, four more episodes than the eight-episode first season.
The first three episodes of Rivals series two were dropped on Disney+ on Friday 15 May 2026 at 7am, but the three episodes thereafter will be released weekly.
New episodes will land on Disney+ every Friday from 7am. The second half of the season will contain another six-episode block, and will be released on the platform later this year. A release date has not yet been announced.
Top image: Rivals cast at the screening of season 2 (Photo by Dave Benett/Getty Images for Disney+)
