Rivals is back for a new season with more bonking, more affairs and, of course, more moustaches.

Set in the fictional Rutshire in the hedonistic late 80s, the Jilly Cooper adaptation has turned some of British TV’s most popular actors into international sex symbols.

No one is more surprised by this than Danny Dyer, who plays the lovable Freddie Jones, especially because of his era-appropriate wig and moustache.

“I just want to see my top lip again,” he joked to the BBC of his facial hair, admitting he has to keep the moustache for around seven months of the year while he’s filming filming.

“My grandchildren only know me as a moustached man, and that depresses me slightly,” he added, referring to his daughter Dani Dyer’s three children, Santiago, Star and Summer.

Danny has one hope for his character in series three – that his character might move with the times and ditch his trademark tache.

“Obviously, we’re coming to the end of the 80s now, so if we go again, we’re sort of encroaching on the early 90s and hopefully this can come off,” he quipped.

Back in 2024, when Rivals first became a surprise hit, Danny opened up about some of the “backhanded” remarks he had received about his performance.

Speaking with his daughter Dani on their podcast Live and Let Dyers, the Mr Big Stuff actor said: “Some people were alluding to the fact that, you know, I’m the one that sort of come out of it, really, in a way, going, ‘Oh God, he’s a really good actor.’”

“I’m getting this backhanded [praise] from these big, broadsheets,” he continued. “Actually, there was a headline that went, ‘The biggest plot twist about Rivals is that Danny Dyer can act’. In a way, I’m going, ‘Oh thanks for the compliment’, at the same time going, ‘Well, fuck off’.”

Although it’s not yet been announced, Rivals fans should feel confident – thanks to the rave reviews that season two has received – that a third run is on the cords.

“We’ve already planned season three,” executive producer Dominic Treadwell-Collins said recently on the red carpet for the second series. “It’s not officially greenlit yet, but the stories are all done.”

He added: “We’re ready to go.”

The first three episodes premiere on 15 May 2026, on Disney +, followed by one a week until 5 June. The second half of the season will premiere later in 2026.