Sanditon Has a Surprising Connection to Bridgerton Season 2
These two rival Regency-era dramas don’t just share a filming location…
We have a strong feeling that if you’re a Bridgerton fan, you’ve definitely loved the latest season of Sanditon, too, as the two shows have quite a few similarities as rather daring period dramas that saw their leading men leave at the end of their first seasons.
MORE: When does filming for Bridgerton season three begin?
But did you know that these two rival Regency-era dramas also have a rather surprising family connection? Justin Young, who serves as head writer for the Jane Austen-inspired drama, is actually the brother of Rupert Young, who plays the new young Lord Featherington in the latest season of the Netflix show.
Speaking in a new interview, Justin opened up about finding out his brother had been cast as one of Bridgerton’s newest stars. He told Salon: “Right after we got recast for season two, and I was really excited, my dear brother came up and said, ‘I don’t know how to tell you this, but I’ve just been cast in season two of Bridgerton.'”
MORE: Meet Sanditon’s new lead actor Ben Lloyd-Hughes
He joked: “Imagine my mum right now; she’s got to choose. Who does she think is better? Which son has made a better show, Bridgerton or Sanditon?”
Bridgerton actor Rupert Young is the brother of Sanditon’s head writer
However, he added that there’s no bad blood between the pair. “I joke because they’re different, and I really respect what they do in Bridgerton,” he explained. “The two shows are very different, in a lot of ways, in tone and style.
In a funny way, a lot of the things we were criticised for in the first season – that we were a bit rude, that we were too sexy – Bridgerton has just come along and they’ve done all those things ten times over. But I think we’re judged by slightly different standards because we’ve got Jane Austen in the title and Andrew Davies in the cast.”
Sanditon finished its second season this weekend (spoiler alert!), ending on a cliffhanger that dashed Rose William’s hopes of a future with Alexander Colbourne as Mr Darcy.
