Rivals season 2 is filled with steamy romance, but one couple has captured fans' hearts: Freddie (Danny Dyer) and Lizzie (Katherine Parkinson). Despite cheating on their spouses, their connection feels pure, reaching a climax in episode 4 when they have sex in Freddie's pool.
The Pool Scene
In an interview with Metro, Danny and Katherine opened up about the scene, marking their characters' first time together since season one. The rendezvous occurs during the taping of Corinium's televised production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, where Lord Tony Baddingham (David Tennant) has cast Maud O'Hara (Victoria Smurfit) as Titania. Lizzie is in the audience to support her husband James Vereker (Oliver Chris), who plays Bottom, but she sneaks out to Freddie's house.
Freddie is by the indoor pool in his swimming trunks, reading one of Lizzie's erotic books. Lizzie arrives, revealing a huge book deal, and Freddie calls her 'bloody brilliant.' They kiss, strip naked, jump into the pool, and have sex, with Freddie even going down on Lizzie in the hot tub.
Behind the Scenes
Katherine joked, 'Has that made it in, has it?' adding, 'I did a lot of laps between takes.' Danny recalled, 'She was very excited about getting in the pool. It was quite a warm day.' He explained how the scene was set up by Freddie's wife Val (Lisa McGrillis), who told Freddie not to go in the pool naked. 'And then, of course, Lizzie comes over, and we both want to do a bit of skinny dipping and jump in.'
Katherine emphasized the scene's significance: 'It's the abandon of it. A complete throwing of the rule book.' Danny added, 'Like two teenagers having fun in the swimming pool. We're selling it—selling lust, sex...' 'Love,' Katherine interjected. 'Selling love. It's very playful.'
Fan Reactions
Fans have adored Freddie and Lizzie. Bonobochick wrote on X: 'Lizzie & Freddie really has me rooting for two folks to cheat cause they're so lovely together.' Knownasbeacon commented, 'I will NEVER get tired of the way Freddie looks at Lizzie.' Sevandrec remarked, 'The way I get sooo giddy every time Lizzie and Freddie come up on my screen.' Time2loves wrote, 'The best ship in Rivals is definitely Lizzie and Freddie.'
Rivals is available to stream on Disney+, with new episodes of season 2 released on Fridays.
