Simone Ashley Joins 'Bridgerton' Season 2 As Jonathan Bailey's Onscreen Love Interest: Report

Simone Ashley will be part of Netflix's "Bridgerton" Season 2.

Viewers of "Bridgerton" will see a new love interest for Jonathan Bailey's Anthony in the second season. Ashley will play as the female lead opposite Bailey, and both confirmed her casting in their Instagram Stories Monday, Entertainment Tonight reported.

Ashley shared the report from Deadline confirming that she landed the female lead role in the series. Meanwhile, Bailey also shared Deadline's tweet about the same report and added a red heart emoji while tagging Simone in his post.

Ashley will play the character of Kate Sharma, a "smart, headstrong young woman who suffers no fools -- Anthony Bridgerton very much included." The character newly arrives in London and is a reimagination of Kate Sheffield, Anthony's main love interest in Julia Quinn's best-selling novel. However, it remains unclear if the show will also feature the other major characters mentioned in Quinn's book like Kate's younger sister Edwina and mother Mary.

Series creator Chris Van Dusen made it clear that the series will stick to the Bridgerton family after Daphne (Phoebe Dynevor) married the Duke of Hasting, Simon Bassett (Rege-Jean Page) in the first season. So, the second season will focus on the eldest Bridgerton, Anthony, who was rejected by opera singer Siena (Sabrina Bartlett). Anthony revealed in the first season’s finale that he will find a new viscountess.

"We left him at the end of the first season at a bit of a crossroads, so I’m looking forward to jumping in and discovering how he fares on the marriage market," Van Dusen told Deadline.

Meanwhile, he assured fans that Dynevor and Page would still be part of the show. The pair has gained massive fans after leading the first season.

"They are now of course the Duke and Duchess of Hastings but in my mind they will always be Bridgertons and I think they will always be part of the show," Van Dusen added.

"Bridgerton" Season 2 will start filming in the U.K. this spring. It will be a six-month shoot. Also, the entire cast of the first season will be back, but some actors' involvement will likely be scaled down. Aside from Ashley, Van Dusen announced earlier that there will be "a bunch of new characters" in the new season.