Do you hear that? It’s the sound of every single Bridgerton fan collectively screaming (or buzzing?) into the world because the incredible romance series we all adore has not only been renewed for a second season and we finally have the casting we’ve been itching for! And the second means that Julia Quinn’s The Viscount Who Loved Me is going to grace our television screens putting fan-favorite Kate Sheffield front and center.
Who is Kate Sheffield (now Sharma) you ask? Only the greatest character in the entire series. (We’re biased, but we’re right. Trust us.) And we have casting too! Simone Ashley (Sex Education) will steal Viscount Bridgerton’s heart and run with it while she steps on his toes and sends him into the lake in the process. (Ours, too though she’s already done that!) Bridgerton isn’t without its flaws, but it’s casting decisions thus far have been immaculate—truly and perfectly—there’s not a single change we would have made.
There will be bees and there will (hopefully) be a corgi, too. The Viscount Who Loved Me is our favorite. We’ll keep saying this and we can’t wait. The world has needed Bridgerton but more than anything now, with Kate Sharma, it will be everything we’ve been wanting.
Deadline, along with the official Bridgerton accounts reported to the latest news, and we’ve been buzzing about it since. And while fans might notice the change in last name, it’s to honor the actress’ and now character’s Indian decent, which we are 100% here for. Let’s take a moment to just acknowledge how extraordinary it is for the series to continue with diverse casting that is slaying us with utter perfection in this way. (No, but seriously, it’s almost jarring how attractive everyone is and we cannot handle it.)
With the way the series has handled The Duke and I—we trust them with The Viscount Who Loved Me even more so perhaps with how they have layered Anthony Bridgerton. Jonathan Bailey’s work on the series has been transcendent so far, the chemistry between Regé-Jean Page and Phoebe Dynevor as Daphne has been remarkable–that said, we trust that they are going to bring one of our favorite stories life and somehow, likely even exceed our expectations.
“Kate is a smart, headstrong young woman who suffers no fools — Anthony Bridgerton very much included.” Oof, what a sentence, Deadline. What a sentence. We’re here for it. And we’re ready.
In case you missed it, we have an entire scene by scene breakdown of The Viscount Who Loved Me ready for your reading–come cry with us now.