New Bridgerton series is steamiest yet as Netflix bosses turn Jonathan Bailey into the new Colin Firth

BRIDGERTON is back and promises to be steamier than ever – Jonathan Bailey becoming the new Colin Firth.

The 33-year-old emerges dripping from a lake in this raunchy preview of the new series, in scenes evocative of Mr Darcy in Pride And Prejudice.

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And just like Firth’s role as the leading man in the 1995 BBC adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel, in this second season of the Netflix historical romp we will see Jonathan take centre stage.

The plot sees his character, playboy Anthony Bridgerton, searching for a wife.

It follows Phoebe Dynevor and Rege-Jean Page’s love story of season one, as Daphne Bridgerton and the Duke of Hastings — and Jonathan definitely felt under pressure to deliver.

He says: “Stepping into the shoes Phoebe and Regé-Jean wore, and led with so gracefully last season, has taught me a lot.

“This season has kept me on my toes. I got really fit, I made sure to eat well and get loads of sleep, and everything else just seemed to fall into place.”

‘Animal primitivism’

Anthony gets involved in a love triangle with two new characters, Sharma sisters Edwina and Kate.

Edwina is presented to society and pushed as a match for Anthony. But he has eyes only for her elder sister.

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Jonathan adds: “Kate and Anthony are drawn together like magnets. There is this animal primitivism and a wild attraction.

“She is this incredible sort of mythical creature to him.”

Bridgerton boss Shonda Rhimes says: “Season One was about the innocence of the diamond of the season, presented to society — this pure, sweet, virginal creature. It was her journey of self-discovery, and of who she is as a woman.

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“In Season Two, it’s about this very forbidden, super-sexy passion that Anthony and Kate have — they almost can’t keep their hands off one another, even if they try.

“It’s different from Season One, which was a more pure blossoming of love and a woman’s self-discovery.

“This is, for Anthony, the discovery there are things that go beyond a hot attraction. He’s had a hot attraction before, we’ve seen him be a rake.

Now you see him deal with what happens when feelings spill beyond that. And that’s even more exciting.”

• Bridgerton’s Series Two comes to Netflix on March 25