‘Rivals’ Renewed for Season 3: What to Expect

TV’s most scandalous show with the juiciest drama that we just can’t stop watching is back in November with the second half of its second season, but with a series of books by Jilly Cooper that it could follow, what’s the latest on Rivals Season 3?

Well, good news came on Tuesday, June 16, as it was renewed! Furthermore, Season 3 will once again consist of 12 episodes. (The first season was eight episodes, while the second is 12.)

Read on for everything we know so far about Rivals Season 3.

Is Rivals renewed for Season 3?

Yes! The news came in June.

“The phenomenal response to Rivals is a credit to the bold, irreverent and endlessly entertaining world created by Dame Jilly Cooper, our cast, creative team and production partners at Happy Prince,” said Lee Mason, VP, scripted at Disney+ EMEA. “We’re delighted to be bringing audiences a third season on Disney+/Hulu. Expect more ambition, more romance, more rivalries and, of course, more scandal as we return to Rutshire for another irresistible chapter.”

Said series executive producers Dominic Treadwell-Collins and Alexander Lamb, “We’ve been delighted and overwhelmed by the audience’s response to season two of Rivals – testament to the hard work from everyone working on Rivals both on and off screen. Our one sadness is that Jilly didn’t get to witness the love for season two. But she’s still very much with us in spirit and would be so delighted that season three has been greenlit. We’re so thrilled to continue to work with Disney as we dive deeper into the Rutshire Chronicles and expand the Cooperverse even further.”

The news wasn’t too surprising, given the show’s success.

“Crossing our fingers,” Treadwell-Collins previously told TV Insider while discussing the midseason finale for our digital cover story with David Tennant and Nafessa Williams. “We’ve been overwhelmed by the response to Season 2 and the fact that it’s really hit the States has been really special for me. We’ve got some ardent fans in the US and that’s what I wanted. That’s what we wanted.”

He’d also said on the red carpet for the series ahead of the Season 2 premiere, “We’ve already planned Season 3. It’s not officially greenlit yet, but the stories are all done. We’re ready. We’re ready to go.”

When does Rivals Season 3 premiere?

That will entirely depend on when production begins. Season 1 was an all-at-once drop, with all eight episodes available to stream on Hulu on October 18, 2024. But Season 2 is being released in two parts (of six episodes each) and weekly. The first three episodes premiered on May 15, 2026, on Hulu, followed by one a week until June 5. Then, the second half will premiere later in November 2026.

Who’s in the Rivals cast?

Returning for Rivals Season 2 are David Tennant as Lord Tony Baddingham, Alex Hassell as Rupert Campbell-Black, Aidan Turner as Declan O’Hara, Nafessa Williams as Cameron Cook, Bella Maclean as Taggie O’Hara, Katherine Parkinson as Lizzie Vereker, Danny Dyer as Freddie Jones, Victoria Smurfit as Maud O’Hara, Claire Rushbrook as Lady Monica Baddingham, Oliver Chris as James Vereker, Lisa McGrillis as Valerie Jones, Emily Atack as Sarah Stratton, Rufus Jones as Paul Stratton, Luca Pasqualino as Basil ‘Bas’ Baddingham, Catriona Chandler as Caitlin O’Hara, Annabel Scholey as Beattie Johnson, Gary Lamont as Charles Fairburn, Hubert Burton as Gerald Middleton, Gabriel Tierney as Patrick O’Hara, Lara Peake as Daysee Butler, and Bryony Hannah as Dierdre Kilpatrick.

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Joining the cast are guest stars Hayley Atwell as Helen Gordon, Rupert Campbell-Black’s ex-wife and mother of his two children, and Rupert Everett as her husband Malise Gordon, Campbell-Black’s former show-jumping coach and mentor. Also new for Season 2 are Maxim Ays, Holly Cattle, Oliver Dench, Amanda Lawrence, Bobby Lockwood, Eliot Salt, and Jonny Weldon. Joining in the second half are Rachael Sterling as Araminta Pemberton, Lady Monica Baddingham’s vampish younger sister, Rupert Evans as erudite headmaster David Hawkley, and Santiago Cabrera as Argentinian Polo legend Alejandro Mendoza.

The drama is made by Happy Prince, part of ITV Studios, and executive produced by Dominic Treadwell-Collins, Alexander Lamb, Felicity Blunt, Elliot Hegarty, Laura Wade, Rivals author Dame Jilly Cooper, and for Disney+, Jonny Richards. Eliza Mellor is a producer. It is written by Dominic Treadwell-Collins, Laura Wade, Sophie Goodhart, Sam Hoare, Mimi Hare, Clare Naylor, Sorcha Kurien-Walsh, and Dare Aiyegbayo, and directed by Elliot Hegarty, Jamie J Johnson, and Dee Koppang O’Leary.

What is Rivals Season 3 about?

The second season follows the second half of Jilly Cooper’s Rivals book “broadly,” Treadwell-Collins told us. We’ll have to wait to see what that means for a potential third season and which book it could take inspiration from.

But the renewal announcement did include this tease: “As the dust settles post the scandalous revelations in season 2, we see the stakes become higher and the alliances more fragile, with nothing staying buried for long. New romances blossom, old flames rekindle and shocking secrets will be spilled in this third [season], which takes everyone’s favorite rivalries to the next level. In a world of power, passion and betrayal, everyone has something to lose.”

Rivals, Season 2 Return, November 2026, Hulu