Pants ripping, training 3 times a week to wear costume — Fun facts revealed at Bridgerton season 2 press conference

To quote a wise fictional author on Bridgerton, the 'social season' is upon us.

Yes, the second season of the steamy romance period drama is here on Netflix and we can think of no better way to welcome it than to share some of the hot tea that was spilt in the press conference on Monday (March 21).

After all, just like Lady Whistledown, we feel compelled to share the most curious of news.

1. Pants ripping on camera

If you've ever had your pants ripping in public, or perhaps gone out without realising that your pants have a hole in them, then you can certainly empathise with the growing black hole of shame and embarrassment that wells up within.

For British actor Jonathan Bailey, who plays the lead role of Anthony Bridgerton, a fencing scene with his onscreen brothers went wrong when his pants ripped.

The 33-year-old said: "The fencing outfits were quite tight in various places... and going in for my final lunge with Benedict (Luke Thompson), my crotch ripped and it was all on camera. It's just in those moments... where you suddenly realise you're being filmed by four different cameras. I just wanted to scream. This is just so embarrassing."

2. Not as many sex scenes

Now, this might seem counterintuitive to the romance formula of Bridgerton — especially with season one being deemed too steamy at times to watch with the fam.

However, creator Chris Van Dusen said that it "was never about quantity for us" and these intimate scenes are used to tell the story and push it forward.

British actress Simone Ashley (who plays female lead Kate Sharma), 26, said: "It makes sense for these characters... they're so truthful to their duty and responsibility so for them to kind of break that, I think, wouldn't have made sense for the characters... They (the sex scenes) have a meaning behind them and they're very earned when the fireworks happen."

Jonathan added: "Kate and Anthony feel explicit in the way that they feel naked in front of each other. And I think that's a very interesting cerebral way of exploring that sort of innate sexuality."

3. Trained three times a week to wear the costume

The women of the ton might carry off the Regency fashion with effortless elegance but it's no mean feat getting zipped up into those costumes.

Polly Walker, 55, didn't find it very comfortable at all. The British actress, who plays Portia Featherington, shared: "Well, I can't say that mine were comfortable. I have a massive corset going on. I also had, like, little white tights that wouldn't stay up. So I might have looked very elegant, but my tights were like a two-year-old, you know, with the gusset down by my ankles."

"It was all for a good cause," she deadpanned.

As for Golda Rosheuvel, who plays Queen Charlotte, her costumes are more over the top with massive gowns and big and tall wigs.

The 52-year-old Guyanese-British actress said she works out because she needs the stamina to wear the costumes.

"My costumes, they're great. They're amazing. I love them. I am double corseted. I train three times a week, I eat healthily, I drink lots of water because you have to have stamina to wear those costumes, so that the recovery days are less difficult. I haven't died yet. My insides are still intact. But one has to be very careful — match fit, got to be match fit."

4. Telling lies to avoid giving away spoilers

No one is a stranger to keeping spoilers close to the vest, especially with the environment and culture that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has cultivated.

However, newcomer Charithra Chandran (playing Edwina Sharma) openly admitted that she lies to avoid spilling secrets and says the darndest things.

The 25-year-old British actress said (to much laughter): "Sometimes I say the most outrageous things and I'm like, 'You're going to believe it and print that, go ahead.' So I think I told everyone that Edwina dies in episode two."

Considering how Andrew Garfield kept up his lie in numerous press interviews to hide his appearance in Spider-Man: No Way Home, we say Charithra might be on to something.

5. 'Cheating' at bowling

We all know that the production crew always works a little behind-the-scenes magic but this particular anecdote was quite funny and memorable.

In fact, it was how British actress Bessie Carter (playing Prudence Featherington), 28, discovered her competitive nature.

She said: "We had a lovely moment of me trying to bowl and I really wanted to be able to get them (the pins) all down... So the lovely props [team], Jed and Neil, had to get a rope so that when I rolled it, the rope did that, so it looked like they all fell."

The second season of Bridgerton follows Lord Anthony Bridgerton (Jonathan) — the eldest Bridgerton sibling and Viscount — as he sets out to find a suitable wife. Driven by his duty to uphold the family name, Anthony's search for a debutante who meets his impossible standards seems ill-fated until Kate (Simone) and her younger sister Edwina (Charithra) Sharma arrive from India.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYNCws-a6CQ&ab_channel=Netflix[/embed]

When Anthony begins to court Edwina, Kate discovers the true nature of his intentions — a true love match is not high on his priority list — and decides to do everything in her power to stop the union. But in doing so, Kate and Anthony's verbal sparring matches only bring them closer together, complicating matters on both sides.

The series also stars Adjoa Andoh (Lady Danbury), Shelley Conn (Mary Sharma), Nicola Coughlan (Penelope Featherington), Phoebe Dynevor (Daphne Basset), Ruth Gemmell (Violet Bridgerton), Claudia Jessie (Eloise Bridgerton), Calam Lynch (Theo Sharpe), Luke Newton (Colin Bridgerton), Luke Thompson (Benedict Bridgerton), and Julie Andrews as the voice of Lady Whistledown.

Bridgerton season two premieres on Netflix on March 25.

bryanlim@asiaone.com