- Hulu and Disney+ have confirmed that episodes 7-12 of Rivals Season 2 will be released from November 2026.
- Internet rumors initially suggested that the episodes would resume in October 2026.
- The creators have stated that the split of seasons occurs for various reasons, including the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Spoilers for Rivals Season 2 episode 6 ahead.
Upsetting news just in: Hulu and Disney+ have confirmed that the second six-episode series in Rivals Season 2 won’t be on screens until November 2026. The episodes were originally rumored to be released a month earlier, in October.
Alongside the trailer for the second part of season 2 (which you can watch below), a press release confirmed: “Following a shocking turn of events in the sixth episode, the residents of Rutshire are rocked by tragedy, scandal and betrayal as the battle between Venturer and Corinium comes to a head.
“The Hulu Original series returns with six more drama-packed episodes this November on Disney+ in the UK and internationally, and on Hulu in the US.”
In addition to this, the episodes will also feature some new faces, with Rachael Stirling joining the cast as Araminta Pemberton, the “vampiric” younger sister of Monica (Claire Rushbrook). Rupert Evans joins as director David Hawkley and Santiago Cabrera as Argentine polo legend Alejandro Mendoza.
This confirms that both Pole and her novel companion by Jilly Cooper The man who made husbands jealous are being actively incorporated into the Rivals story, but does any of this matter when we leave Season 2, Episode 6 on such an unnecessarily sour note?
Opinion: Rivals season 2 part 2 has a lot of work to do after killing Monica for no good reason
Look
Truth be told, I fully believed that Monica would appear in season 2, episode 7 after a “misunderstanding,” but the trailer above proves that the worst has happened with the opening funeral scene.
I’ve already waxed lyrical about why killing off Monica was such poor decision-making by the creative team, so I should really be glad to have another month of distance between me and the creative team. Rivals continuous story.
But with on-off couples Lizzie (Katherine Parkinson) and Freddie (Danny Dyer) and Taggie (Bella Maclean) and Rupert (Alex Hassell) seemingly finding their way back to each other, I’m afraid I want to have my metaphorical cake and eat it.
As one YouTube comment puts it perfectly: “Making us wait until November is so vile and criminal.” But with the TV adaptation deviating so much from the original novel, are we really prepared for what comes next?
“12 episodes is a lot for people to enjoy,” writer Laura Wade told me earlier in the season. “I think partly we wanted to prolong that enjoyment a little bit. But also from a practical point of view, it takes a long time to present 12 very complicated period drama pieces.
“Do we just release the first six and move on to finishing the second six, which is what we’re doing now? Or do we wait six more months of release for 12? We didn’t want to wait. Plus, we have the FIFA World Cup coming up, so we’ll release the first half before football. We get that out of the way and then we release the second half.”
Both Hulu and Disney+ will be streaming games thanks to ESPN+ securing the rights, so get ready for a smorgasbord of sports content to invade your accounts during the summer months.
“There’s something charming about the first half of the show having spring elements and the second half having fall vibes,” Wade continues. “On the screen, Christmas comes, which allows us to break it up so everyone can savor the story.
“We have some really big story moments coming up later in the series and it would be wonderful if those bits of story had a moment to sink in with viewers, building some anticipation. There’s a huge plot twist at the end of episode six. I think that’s when we’re separated for four or five months. But I think that’ll keep people thinking and talking and arguing about what happens next… in a good way.”
Now that we know what that is, I’m surely leading the biggest possible discussion between me and the writers’ room.
There are clearly still raucous holidays to come, but I don’t even think Christmas can soften the damage that the first half of Season 2 has done.
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