- Rivals has been renewed for season 3 by Hulu and Disney+
- 12 new episodes are confirmed some time after the second half of season 2 airs in November 2026
- Will be the first series without author Dame Jilly Cooper’s involvement following her death in 2025
We’ll pretend to be surprised, but it’s official that Rivals season 3 is happening following renewal confirmation from Hulu and Disney+.
While no release date or window has been confirmed, we know that 12 new episodes have been commissioned to air at some point after the second half of season 2 drops in November 2026.
Lee Mason, Vice-President, Scripted, Disney+ EMEA, said in a statement: “The phenomenal response to Rivals is a credit to the bold, irreverent and endlessly entertaining world created by Dame Jilly Cooper, our cast, creative team and production partners at Happy Prince.
“We’re delighted to be bringing audiences a third season on Disney+ and Hulu. Expect more ambition, more romance, more rivalries and, of course, more scandal as we return to Rutshire for another irresistible chapter.”
No further details have been announced, but we can expect the core cast to return (unless season 2 plans to kill anyone else off).
However, there’s something we haven’t considered — even though Mason has directly mentioned it in the above remark.
Opinion: Rivals season 3 will be the first without Jilly Cooper’s input — and that’s worrying
It’s possibly stating the obvious, but Rivals season 3 will mark the first installment of the hit TV show after the passing of its creator, Dame Jilly Cooper. Prior to her death in November 2025, the author had signed off on all 12 episode scripts in season 2, and continued to give notes until just a few days beforehand.
“Jilly signed off every script of the 12 and was on set for quite a lot of production as well,” executive producer Alexander Lamb told TechRadar prior to season 2’s launch. “So it feels that this series totally has Jilly’s seal of approval. She’s an exec producer, which she’s credited for, and was giving me notes on the Thursday before she died on episode 12.
“Her fingerprints are all over this series, and we’d also sat with her and talked about season 3 and the future, about how to mould the other books around Rivals. We’ve got her blessing on things. We’ve got her notes written down. She’s always with us.”
Even so, it could be argued that Rivals as a TV series has already strayed too far away from Cooper’s core concept, with the death of Monica Baddingham (Claire Rushbrook) in season 2 episode 6 dividing fan opinion.
Until we know what season 2 part 2 will hold, there’s no telling exactly what Rivals season 3 will adapt.
However, it’s likely that any new episodes will include even more references to Cooper’s wider work, with characters from Polo and The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous already being featured.
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jasmine.valentine@futurenet.com (Jasmine Valentine)
