‘Rivals’ Officially Confirmed to Keep Schtupping in Season 3
'Rivals' will keep on banging for Season 3.
The 2026 Emmy nominations haven’t been announced yet, which means it remains to be seen if Disney+ pulled off their awards-season play by splitting Rivals Season 2 in twain and airing the first half right before the voting deadline, and the back half in late fall. However, it seems the awkward schedule required did not hurt the show’s viewership or its chances of renewal. It’s barely been a week since the mid-season finale; there are still six more episodes to go, arriving in November/December 2026, and yet here we are with a Season 3 renewal and another bumper crop of episodes to come.
Rivals hasn’t just been renewed for Season 3; it seems the new format may also stick around. After Season 1 arrived as an eight-episode binge in the U.S., Season 2 was expanded to 12 installments and turned into an old-school split season with an entire summer break in between. Season 3 will also be 12 episodes, according to the Disney+ and Hulu press release. No word yet on whether the 12 installments will run as one long series or continue with six episodes every six months in some sort of weekly format; however, it seems likely the show is planning a six-and-six split.
(If it manages enough Emmy nominations/wins, they might even start doing it with other shows. No, I don’t like it either. Stop yelling at me, I’m just the messenger.)
Naturally, there are no images or footage for Season 3, since Season 2 hasn’t finished airing yet, let alone Season 3 filming getting off the ground. But we do have the U.K. cut of the Rivals Season 2 Part 2 trailer, and that’s not nothing.
Here is the Season 3 synopsis, which (because Season 2 still has an entire second half to go) is so painfully vague even HBO would be proud.
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 series which takes everyone’s favorite rivalries to the next level. In a world of power, passion and betrayal, everyone has something to lose.
Meanwhile, here is the synopsis for the second half of Season 2, just because it has actual plot points.
As Tony Baddingham and Declan O’Hara’s contest for the Cotswolds crown hits a fever pitch, Rupert Campbell-Black is forced to confront his own personal demons. Across hedonistic parties, Bonfire Night chaos, the Hampshire Hunt Ball, and a turbulent Christmas, affairs unravel, alliances fracture, and rivalries intensify. Caught in the middle of the frenzied franchise battle, Taggie O’Hara must find the courage to follow her heart while everyone else faces the consequences of ambition, power, and secrets that they can no longer hide.
Most of the cast from Season 2 will return, and we assume they will continue into Season 3 unless the show decides to fork the timeline with some more well-placed historical events. That includes David Tennant (Doctor Who) as Lord Tony Baddingham, Luca Pasqualino (Criminal Record) as his younger half-brother, Basil Baddingham, and Louis Landau (The Serpent Queen) as his son, Archie Baddingham. Katherine Parkinson (Doc Martin) plays romance novelist Lizzie Vereker, and Oliver Chris (My Lady Jane) plays her husband, Paul. Danny Dyer (Henpocalypse!) is Freddie Jones, Lisa McGrillis (Avoidance) is his wife, Val.
Aidan Turner (Poldark) plays Declan O’Hara, with Victoria Smurfit (Bloodlands) as his wife, Maude; Gabriel Tierney (Enola Holmes 2) as eldest son, Patrick; Bella Maclean (Sex Education) as middle child, Taggie; and Catriona Chandler (Pistol) as their youngest, Caitlin. Alex Hassell (The Miniaturist) returns as Rupert Campbell-Black, Hayley Atwell (Heartstopper) as Helen Gordon, Rupert’s ex-wife and the mother of his two children, Marcus (Leo Weston) and Tabitha (Charlotte Rice-Foley). Rupert Everett (The Serpent Queen) plays her husband, Malise Gordon. Nafessa Williams (Black Lightning) is the American TV producer Cameron Cook, with whom Rupert is currently living.
The rest of the cast includes Emily Atack (Father Brown), Rufus Jones (W1A), Annabel Scholey (The Couple Next Door), Gary Lamont (Boiling Point), Hubert Burton (Miss Austen), Lara Peake (The English Game), and Bryony Hannah (Call the Midwife). Season 2 additional cast includes Maxim Ays (Boarders), Holly Cattle (COBRA), Oliver Dench (Hotel Portofino), Amanda Lawrence (The Change), Bobby Lockwood (The Tower), Eliot Salt (Slow Horses), and Jonny Weldon (One Day).
Season 2 was written by Dominic Treadwell-Collins (A Very English Scandal), Laura Wade, Sophie Goodhart, Sam Hoare, Kefi Chadwick, Mimi Hare, Clare Namylor, Sorcha Kurien-Walsh, and Dare Aiyegbayo, most of whom we assume will be back to pen Season 3. Directors Elliot Hegarty (Ted Lasso), Jamie J. Johnson, and Dee Koppang O’Leary split helming duties for Season 2 across 12 episodes with Eliza Mellor producing; directors for Season 3 have not been announced. Executive producers include Treadwell-Collins, Wade, Cooper, and Felicity Blunt, along with Jonny Richards for Disney+ EMEA Scripted Content.
Rivals Season 2, Part 2 will premiere on Disney+/Hulu in November 2026, and will most likely air weekly through the end of the year. Season 1 and Season 2, Part 1 are streaming on both Disney+ and Hulu. Season 3 is not expected to debut until 2027.
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