‘Bridgerton’ Cast Its Female Lead for Season 2 and Fans Are So Pumped

Anthony Bridgerton (played by Jonathan Bailey) has officially met his match. According to Deadline, Simone Ashley of Netflix’s Sex Education fame will play opposite to Bailey in the upcoming season of Bridgerton as they become the main couple we will all be falling over in Season 2. Ashley will play Kate Sharma (Sheffield in the Julia Quinn novels), a “smart, headstrong young woman who suffers no fools,” Deadline reports.

When we left Anthony at the end of the first season, he had just tragically ended his relationship with his mistress Siena, telling Daphne (Phoebe Dynevor) and Simon, the Duke of Hastings (Regé-Jean Page), that he will declare his intentions to the viscountess, finally stepping foot into the marriage market as his mother has been pestering him to do as head of household.

Enter Kate Sharma, who, no doubt, will make Anthony question if he’s cut out for married life whilst falling for her during a series of balls, dances, and walks along the Thames.

Fans are hugely appreciative that the Shondaland series chose a South Asian actress to play the leading romantic lady in the upcoming season. Many claim the show’s success is largely based on its color-blind cast and how race is seemingly a non-issue in this version of Regency England.

Those who have read the books are already clued in to how Anthony Bridgerton’s love story pans out, and hints on Twitter tell us that he doesn’t initially go for Kate, but rather begins courting her sister.

So what, pray tell, occurs to make Anthony stop courting the elder sister and instead find himself attached to Kate? No doubt Lady Whistledown will spill the tea when the time comes.

Welcome to the hottest cast currently streaming on Netflix, Simone Ashley. We’re more than ready for Season 2 to come to fruition.