Rivals star Aiden Turner set pulses racing as he stripped off and recreated Poldark's nude swimming scene in the latest episode of the Disney+ bonkbuster. The Irish actor, 42, who plays Declan O'Hara in the racy drama, was first catapulted to fame as brooding Captain Ross Poldark in the historical BBC drama which aired from 2015 until 2019.
Nude Swim Scene in Rivals Season 2
Episode five of Rivals' second season was released on the platform on Friday and opened with a scene of Aiden's character swimming nude in a loch. He emerged from the water showing his ribbed ripped physique and flashed a glimpse of his bottom as he reached for his trousers. It was very reminiscent of a 2015 scene in Poldark that saw him strip completely naked before enjoying a dip in the sea, watched on by love interest Demelza (Eleanor Tomlinson).
Background of Poldark
The saga, based on Winston Graham's acclaimed novels set in Cornwall in the 18th Century, tells the story of Ross Poldark, an Army officer who returns to England after fighting in the American War of Independence to discover that his fiancee Elizabeth (Heida Reed) had believed him dead and has moved on with his cousin. Poldark then marries his maid, Demelza (Eleanor Tomlinson), but is forever torn between the two women.
Dame Jilly Cooper's Involvement
It comes after it was revealed Dame Jilly Cooper scolded the team behind Rivals and told them to stop making her 'macho men' cry on screen. The show, which also stars Danny Dyer, David Tennant and Emily Atack, is based on the best-selling novel written by Dame Jilly who died unexpectedly last October, aged 88, after suffering injuries from a fall at home.
Now, an executive producer on the show has said Dame Jilly had dished out one memorable piece of criticism on set. Speaking at Hay Festival on Sunday, Laura Wade, writer and executive producer of Rivals, said: 'We were so lucky to have Jilly… You would expect someone to be quite strict about what you do with their key characters, and she really wasn't.' She added: 'She would tell us, if I was making Rupert (Campbell-Black) cry too often, that was one of her favourites – "stop making my macho men cry all the time".'
Dame Jilly's Role in Production
Set in the 1980s, with the backdrop of the Cotswolds countryside, Rivals follows the high-stakes world of British television as careers, marriages and reputations hang by a thread when professional and personal lives collide. Dame Jilly was an active part of its production and served as an executive producer.
Cast Reaction to Dame Jilly's Death
Elsewhere at the festival, Victoria Smurfit, who plays Maud O'Hara in Rivals, recalled the moment the cast and crew found out about Dame Jilly's sudden death. The actress said: 'I came back (from a break) and Eliza Mellor, our extraordinary on-set producer, was in the room and everything about her was devastated, and I remember walking in and going, "Oh God, someone's died".' She continued: 'And it is a testament to Jilly's sparkle and her champagne soaked soul of heavenly delight that at 88 there was not one iota of me that thought it might be her. She'd been across all the episodes, she'd been across season three, she'd been across everything, and she dropped and rolled… And now she gets to have fun up there.'
Dame Jilly died from a head injury after falling down a flight of stairs at her Cotswolds home, an inquest heard last year. The writer - known for raunchy novels such as Riders, Rivals and Polo - was found by family at her Grade II listed home in Bisley, Gloucestershire, at around 5pm on October 4. They called for an ambulance and upon arrival, paramedics found Dame Jilly alert and referring to a 'severe headache'. She had no memory of the events prior, but had a 'vague recollection' of falling down, the inquest heard.
