Meet the English actor who’s taking over the Featherington estate.

After more than a year of waiting, Bridgerton season 2 has finally arrived, bringing all things Ton gossip, steamy sex scenes, and insanely tight corsets back to our screens.

The highly anticipated second installment of the Regency drama — based on the popular book series by Julia Quinn and executive produced by Shonda Rhimes — picks up right where the record-breaking first season left off back in December 2020. Although the end of season 1 marked the departure of beloved characters (still crying over the Duke of Hastings’ absence), it also marked the arrival of some fresh new faces — including a brand-new Lord Featherington.

Read on for everything you need to know about the new head of household, including what this means for the Featherington ladies and if we can expect to see him in season 3.

Who is the new Lord Featherington?

The first season’s finale left viewers — and the Featherington ladies — with lots of questions after the original Lord (Archibald) Featherington’s growing gambling debts both resulted in his murder and left his family penniless. The women of the household received very little information on what would happen next, but two things were for certain: One of Archibald’s distant cousins would be taking over the Featherington estate — active immediately — and the new lord was supposedly filthy rich from mining precious gems in the United States. Cha-ching!

Flash forward to the season 2 premiere, and we’re finally introduced to the new head of household, Lord Jack Featherington (played by Rupert Young). The tall, young(er), and incredibly charming Cousin Jack immediately makes himself at home in the Featherington estate, even going so far as to take over Lady Feathering’s quarters (much to her dismay). Lady Featherington tolerates the changes so her family can continue to access Cousin Jack’s funds, but the viewers soon discover that there may be more to the new Lord Featherington’s story than the Featherington ladies realize.

Who is Rupert Young?

Bridgerton’s new addition is played by 43-year-old English actor, Rupert Young. The actor is best known for his role in the BBC drama series Merlin, as well as originating the role of Larry Murphy in the West End cast of Dear Evan Hansen.

Rupert, who first auditioned for the show in November 2020, said he enjoyed exploring the new Lord Featherington’s dark side throughout the season while getting to work alongside the existing Bridgerton characters.

“When I auditioned, I didn’t know exactly what the part was going to be,” Rupert shared with Shondaland. “By the time I was doing the chemistry read with [Lady Featherington], I was being told a little bit more — that he’s very charming but that there is a dark side to him. I’ve always been attracted to roles where you can see the humanity in someone who is slightly dodgy. If you know someone is the baddie from episode one, it’s not as fun as letting that play out. I’ve always been interested in that kind of evil in everyday life.”

Will Cousin Jack return for Bridgerton season 3?

While we still don’t know much about what will happen next in the Bridgerton universe — or when it will be released — season 2 ends with cousin Jack heading back to America after being banished and framed for his and Lady Featherington’s fraudulent schemes. For now, it seems Lady Featherington has managed to escape scandal once again, and the new Lord Featherington is gone for good.

While we’d think no one would know more about Cousin Jack’s fate than Rupert himself, that’s not exactly the case. When asked if this is the last we’ll see of the new Lord Featherington, Rupert admitted he’s just as clueless as the rest of us.

“Who knows?” Rupert said. “I hope not! Hopefully, people watching will demand that he comes back. I haven’t met him, but I hear that Ben Miller, the original Lord Featherington, is desperate to come back. There have been some fantastic rumors — even though he potentially is dead, we didn’t actually see it happen! Maybe we can find him and have a spin-off together, something with the Featheringtons.”

Where can I watch Bridgerton season 2?

The show is currently available for streaming on Netflix.