Alert Lady Whistledown! Bridgerton has been renewed for season 2

Dear Reader, today this author received the best news the ton has had to offer in months.

Bridgerton is officially coming back for season 2, Netflix announced Thursday. The hit series seemed a sure thing for renewal given its popularity around the world, but fans had been eagerly awaiting the news since the show's Christmas debut.

The Shondaland series, based on a series of romance novels by Julia Quinn, follows the wealthy Bridgerton family in Regency England as each of eight siblings seeks to navigate London's cutthroat marriage market and societal expectations.

Season 1 centered on eldest Bridgerton daughter, Daphne (Phoebe Dyvenor), and her fauxmance with Simon, the Duke of Hastings (Regé-Jean Page), which turned into something more tender and real. The season also introduced viewers to a wide array of characters, including the rest of the Bridgerton clan, the gaudy Featheringtons, the haughty Queen Charlotte (Golda Rosheuvel), and anonymous gossip maven/narrator Lady Whistledown (voiced by Julie Andrews).

An announcement from (who else?) Lady Whistledown teased that Anthony Bridgerton (Jonathan Bailey), the eldest Bridgerton sibling, "intends to dominate the social season" and that she'll be at the ready to "report on any and all of his romantic activities." That tracks with speculation that, based on the source material, season 2 might focus on Anthony and his romance with a new character, Kate Sheffield.

"The show was always set out to be primarily one book per season," showrunner Chris Van Dusen previously told EW. For those looking to get an early start on the sophomore season's potential arc, the second book in Quinn's series is The Viscount Who Loved Me.

The crucial role of Kate is still to be cast, and production on the new season is set to begin this spring. See the full announcement from Lady Whistledown below:

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• Bridgerton star Regé-Jean Page talks masculinity, joy, and romanticism
• How Bridgerton is poised to revolutionize romance on television