Rivals viewers 'not okay' after dramatic cliffhanger ending as they beg for season 2

Rivals viewers have lapped up all eight episodes of Disney+'s salacious and sexy new drama and are already desperate for a second outing.

To make the prospect of the series continuing even more tantalising, the eighth episode ends with a shocking cliffhanger that absolutely no one saw coming.

We won't spoil it here, but it's certain to shake up the dynamics between Lord Tony Baddingham (played by David Tennant), Cameron Cook (Nafessa Williams) and Rupert Campbell-Black (Alex Hassell).

As Digital Spy put it, "A show as operatic and campy as Rivals was always going to have to push the melody up an octave for the final act."

Although there's no official confirmation from Disney+ yet, a second season of the Jilly Cooper-inspired drama feels almost inevitable as fans have already begun demanding the streamer for more episodes.

One gripped viewer on X (formerly Twitter) posted: "I just finished Rivals...My mental state? Not okay.

"That ending though... seriously, WTF?!?! We need season 2, there's way more story that needs to be told!"

"Oh my. Guess there's gonna be a Season 2 of #Rivals," another predicted.

"They stayed so faithful to the book, I wasn't expecting that ending!"

A third fan said: "Just watched #Rivals and oh my god, it is so good. Not normally my sort of thing but I've been hooked. I need a season 2."

Another said simply: "Season 2 of Rivals needs to be greenlit because I'm hooked."

"I really hope @DisneyPlus renews #Rivals," someone else pleaded the streamer. "Such an enthralling, masterfully directed TV show.

"Ended with a cliffhanger, and they certainly deserve to make as many more [as] they want."

And a final Rivals enthusiast said: "Just finished Rivals and lemme just say... WHAT. A. RIDE.

"All the juicy drama, the high stakes, everything was SO good. The whole ensemble cast was amazing and my fave, DT as Tony Baddingham, he absolutely crushed it.

"This show NEEDS a season 2, there's so much more story to tell."

Set in the cutthroat world of the 1980s television industry, Rivals follows Irish broadcaster Declan O'Hara (Aidan Turner) after he leaves the BBC for a better-paid job at the independent station Corinium.

However, he unwittingly puts himself right in the middle of a long-standing rivalry between Lord Baddingham and Tory MP Campbell-Black, exposing scandals galore when his family infiltrates a whole new world of fame, money and influence.

Rivals is available to stream on Disney+.