'Bridgerton' Casts 'Sex Education's Simone Ashley As Season 2's Female Lead

Netflix's hit regency romance, Bridgerton, has been renewed and is heading into filming a second season this spring. But the cast will not remain static, as Season 2 will follow the series second book and move the focus from Daphne and Simon to Anthony's new love interest, Kate. Kate is a fan favorite (as is her corgi pup Newton), so there's been a lot of speculation as to who the show would cast in the role. Now Deadline reports Netflix will keep it in-house, casting Simone Ashley from its British hit series Sex Education as Bridgerton's new female lead.

American fans will know Ashley best from Sex Education, where she stars as one of the school's "Untouchables," Olivia, who in the second season is revealed to have just as many sexual hangups as the rest of her peers. She also had a small role in the final season of Broadchurch as Dana. Other series she's shown up in include C.B. Strike, Casualty, and the recent 2020 Russell Tovey miniseries, The Sister.

But Simone Ashley's arrival in Bridgerton opposite Jonathan Bailey's Anthony also adds a new wrinkle to the series. Though Bridgerton is racially inclusive, with a mixed-race aristocracy, there wasn't much South Asian representation in Season 1. It felt like an oversight since South Asian minorities (predominantly Pakistani and Indian descent) make up the country's largest minority population. Not only does Ashley's casting continue to build on a fully diverse world, but Kate's story will also explore that dynamic.