‘Rivals’ Stars Reveal Behind-the-Scenes Secrets of Season 2's Most Outrageous Scene

Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for Rivals Season 2, Episode 7-9.While some viewers are lusting over the possibility of Rupert Campbell-Black (Alex Hassell) and Taggie O'Hara (Bella McLean) finally getting together, the rest of Rivals fans are invested in another couple. In the wake of Monica Baddingham's (Claire Rushbrook) death, Valerie Jones (Lisa McGrillis) is left mourning one of the few people in the group who treated her with kindness. Now, as she tries to make a new friend, the quiet bliss of "Frizzie" looks to be in danger. But will Season 2, Part 2 finally see Freddie Jones (Danny Dyer) and Lizzie Vereker (Katherine Parkinson) leave their spouses for good? Dyer, Parkinson, and McGrillis join Collider to discuss what's next for Rivals' favorite trio in the second half of Season 2. They break down why Freddie and Lizzie's relationship resonates so strongly and why we're finally seeing Valerie's vulnerable side. The group also discusses filming the series' most outrageous scenes, from a laxative-induced disaster to a naked escape out of the Vereker bathroom window. Plus, they speculate about what comes next after Episode 9's uncomfortable cliffhanger! Danny Dyer Explains Why Freddie and Lizzie Could Be 'Rivals' Soulmates “They're arguably soulmates, and they met in their late 40s.” Image via Disney+ UK COLLIDER: I have to confess, I am rooting for Freddie and Lizzie to end up together permanently. Sorry Lisa. MCGRILLIS: You know, well, it's quite upsetting to me. Should we talk about how I feel about them? Perhaps. What do you think it is about Freddie and Lizzie that makes people root for them so fiercely? PARKINSON: I just think they're so hot. They are so middle-aged and attractive! DYER: They are. PARKINSON: No! I really hope that's not taken out of context! DYER: What are we? We're sort of, we’re two of the kindest people in it, because, you know, everyone can be quite twatty, can't they? PARKINSON: Yeah. And I think we're both a bit overlooked. I mean, you, in a slightly more benign way than me, but, like, we're both not quite appreciated by our spouses. So I think that's why it doesn't feel like an affair where they've just gone and been greedy. It feels like there's something missing in their marriage, and they've gone and found each other outside. DYER: They're arguably soulmates, and they met in their late 40s. I mean, you're not in your late … Well, you are actually older than me. PARKINSON: Shhh. DYER: But so it's that sad thing of going, you know, what do you do in that situation if you actually... because he does love his Val. And let me tell you something now, Val gets a comeback. Val's got some amazing stuff coming up! Lisa McGrillis Explains Why Valerie Wants To Be Friends With Lizzie in 'Rivals' Image via Disney+/Hulu Well, I was excited because Val has made me feel a bit sorry for her in the last few episodes that I've seen. DYER: But you don't want to feel sorry for her, do you? I don't, but— DYER: It's terrible! Sorry Lisa! MCGRILLIS: It's very clever writing, isn't it? But it is. I love that they've done that, and because obviously James [Vereker] is so awful and so self-obsessed and narcissistic, and awful to Lizzie, but actually, their relationship is just a bit dead from the waist down. I feel like the passion has gone in there, and they don't see each other as— DYER: Who don’t? MCGRILLIS: Valerie and Fred Fred. DYER: Well, Valerie doesn't see Fred Fred like that. MCGRILLIS: I don't think. I feel like their relationship's at a point where it's a bit stale, actually, because they've been together for such a long time. DYER: Do you think that… you've seen episode 7? I have, yes. DYER: Do you think Fred Fred should have slept with his wife and the mother of his children? MCGRILLIS: I got your sloppy seconds. Well, it seemed like the same day. One was straight after a funeral. I don’t know, what are you going to say, “no”? DYER: What are you going to do? What are you going to do? Bada bing. Tony Soprano of Rutshire over here! But Val had some new lingerie. There was that scene where you brought some over to Lizzie after her advice on her show. PARKINSON: Extra large! DYER: Extra large. MCGRILLIS: Extra large. Yeah, that was because she does say that, but also, I think Valerie thinks that she's found a friend in Lizzie, which, again, makes it slightly complicated, and it compromises the affair slightly. I know, that is what makes it so heartbreaking! PARKINSON: Yeah, it does. Yeah. I mean, I'm like a TV presenter, so maybe you've started to see me as a sort of social-climbing opportunity, having not really noticed me much before, maybe. MCGRILLIS: Mm-hmm! Danny Dyer and Lisa McGrillis Reveal What It Was Like Filming 'Rivals' Funniest Scenes “The fact that she was trying to sort of, you know, lace her own daughter's SlimFast with a laxative is awful!” Image via Disney+/Hulu So, there are two hilarious scenes that all three of you are in. Firstly, Val and the laxatives, needing to get that onesie off. MCGRILLIS: Terrible. Awful. But the fact that she was trying to lace her own daughter's SlimFast with a laxative is awful! DYER: Poor Sharon. I know, I thought good for Sharon! MCGRILLIS: I love that she got her own back there. But then also, Freddie has to escape out of the bathroom window with everything on show, and that was hilarious. So, I wondered, they're really fun to watch, those scenes. Are they as fun to film? DYER: Well, I mean, she's brilliant at comedy, and the fact that you did make that— because it's quite heavy, that really, isn't it? You shitting yourself. MCGRILLIS: Yeah, shitting yourself. DYER: But you did it in such a way that was very believable. PARKINSON: And she did, actually. Really? MCGRILLIS: I went pretty method on that. DYER: You did go a bit method there. MCGRILLIS: Yeah. PARKINSON: She actually insisted. DYER: Trumping all day, wasn't you? MCGRILLIS: I had a laxative just before we did the take, and I just let you know. DYER: No, we need a bit of confidence. I think this year is definitely a lot darker, really delving into what [David] Tennant's doing and bringing to the table. He's fucking awful, isn't he? He’s terrifying! MCGRILLIS: He’s getting nastier and nastier! DYER: He's just awful. And now he's lost Mon Mon. PARKINSON: Yeah. DYER: He's just— he goes even fucking— you know, as you'll see. But, yeah, I think that scene, we had to lie in a bath all day, and it was a lot being naked, and it's all a bit weird and a bit odd… Did you get a bit pruny after a while? PARKINSON: Yeah, we did, actually. DYER: My winkle did shrivel up a little bit. PARKINSON: You know that happens because when we were monkeys, we had to grip onto trees. MCGRILLIS : What? PARKINSON: Yeah. DYER: What? PARKINSON: Your fingers wrinkle in the bath to have more grip on the slippery branch. DYER: No way. MCGRILLIS: Gosh, you’re so wise. DYER: I’m not having that. They didn't have baths. PARKINSON: Baths. Monkeys have baths. DYER: They do have baths. Rivals, a nature show. There's lots coming up for you, Katherine. PARKINSON: They learn a lot being around me. Will Valerie Discover Freddie and Lizzie’s Affair in 'Rivals' Season 2, Part 2? “He would never dream that she would have that kind of gumption or the sort of, you know, power to have an affair.” Image via Hulu So I watched the cliffhanger, the final scene of the three episodes that I got to watch, and we get that moment where Val comes in with the lingerie, trying to make friends with Lizzie, and James has clocked because the children have let slip that they saw Freddie... MCGRILLIS: Freddie bare! So I wonder what's more fun: playing someone who's really sure of themselves and confident, or somebody who is at their most exposed? Not literally. I'm talking metaphorically. PARKINSON: I think both are extremely fun to play. Yeah, it's great, that. So, but I think he took a while to work it out there, didn't he? DYER: He's not the brightest, is he, James Vereker? PARKINSON: But I just think he's in complete denial about the whole thing, isn't he? I think he's so vain that the fact that he's having affairs is a given. He would never dream that she would have that kind of gumption or the power to have an affair. I mean, that's why he doesn't see it sooner. I think he doesn't think she has any allure at all, which is... DYER: Which Fred Fred can vouch that she does. She really, really does. PARKINSON: But I was joking when I said that we were hot earlier. MCGRILLIS: She wasn't. She’s always banging on about how hot she is. PARKINSON: I was being sarcastic! DYER: In certain circles, we’d be very hot. PARKINSON: Because obviously we're not. But I think that's what's lovely is that— DYER: Well, we are. You’ve sort of upset me now. PARKINSON: No, sorry. But what I'm saying is, I'm saying that sex isn't just for the young and beautiful. DYER: It's also for people that are pushing a bullseye. PARKINSON: Yeah, like you, not me. DYER: Well, but we do have— PARKINSON: 35 years old. DYER: I do think our sex is accessible to people. I mean, you look at Daddy Declan (Aidan Turner). Soon as he takes that top off... MCGRILLIS: I haven't noticed. DYER: I haven't. MCGRILLIS: I don’t know what you’re talking about. No idea. DYER: But what I'm saying is just like, oh my God, but whereas, you know, when I get my sort of hairy breasts out and my little derby, I think it's like, "Oh, that's a real body. It's accessible," and also with your... PARKINSON: Mine's very intimidating? DYER: Your hairy… PARKINSON: My hairy what? Please! Rivals Season Two returns with a three-episode premiere on Wednesday, November 11 on Hulu and Disney+ in the UK. Release Date October 18, 2024 Network Disney+ Directors Dee Koppang O'Leary, Alexandra Brodski, Elliot Hegarty Writers Clare Naylor, Mimi Hare, Kefi Chadwick, Dare Aiyegbayo, Dominic Treadwell-Collins, Laura Wade, Marek Horn, Sophie Goodhart