Wait – What Do You Mean Rivals Is Now Taking A Mid-Season Break?

This article contains spoilers for the most recent episode of Rivals.

The second season of Rivals has arguably been an even bigger hit than the first.

So far, critics are loving it – and fans are loving it even more thanks to the steamy affairs, swooning romances and dramatic feuds that have unfolded in the new episodes .

However, fans have now been left reeling at the news that Rivals is taking a mid-season break.

It had previously been announced that Disney+ would be splitting season two of the Jilly Cooper adaptation into two separate sex-episode halves, with Friday’s instalment the last to come before the show’s months-long hiatus.

As fans contemplate when they will next see David Tennant’s Tony, Danny Dyer’s Freddie and Alex Hassell’s Rupert Campbell-Black again, here’s what we know about the return of Rivals …

Why has Rivals been split into two parts?

Episode six of the second season of Rivals ended on a huge cliffhanger, with a tragic death in the Baddingham family and a reignited affair between Lizzie and Freddie.

As a result, we’re already itching to know exactly what’s going to happen next.

The show’s writer, Laura Wade, hinted to TechRadar that this cliffhanger was exactly why such a frustrating wait between episodes six and seven of Rivals was introduced.

Prepare yourself, as the writer teases that these shockers are just the tip of the iceberg for what’s to come.

“We’ve got some really huge story moments coming up later in the series and it’d be lovely for those bits of story to just have a moment to sink in with viewers, building up some anticipation,” she explained.

Laura added: “There’s a massive plot twist at the end of episode six. I think that’s when we break off for four or five months. But I think that will keep people thinking, talking and arguing about what’s going to happen next... in a very good way.”

The woman behind bringing our favourite characters to life explained that Rivals’ producers wanted to “drag out that enjoyment a little bit” and leave fans wanting more.

But Laura also has a more practical reason for why the show is having such a long hiatus

“Also, we’ve got the Fifa World Cup coming up, so we’re releasing the first half before the football,” she pointed out. “Get that out of the way, and then release the second half.”

When will Rivals season 2 episode 7 be released?

We know season two of Rivals consists of 12 episodes, but Disney+ has yet to release news on when we can watch the remaining six. 

However, what we do know is that we can likely expect the remaining episodes to land after the World Cup, which finishes mid-July and in the Autumn period.

Rumours have suggested we could be waiting as long as October, with the writers telling Film Hounds they expect episode 12 to come in December.

Laura explained to Tech Radar that the first part of season two of Rival had “spring like stuff” and that the second half has “autumnal vibes”.

“On screen, it runs into Christmas, which allows us to sort of parcel it out for everybody to savour the story,” she said, hinting at the time period of part two of series two of Rivals.

Rivals is available to stream on Disney+ now.