He’s won a legion of fans after playing lothario Rupert Campbell-Black in the eye-popping Disney+ series Rivals.

But any viewers hoping to steal Alex Hassell’s heart following his saucy nude scenes in the popular adaptation of Jilly Cooper’s 1988 ‘bonkbuster’ are going to be left extremely disappointed.

The British heartthrob, 44, already has a lovely wife, Emma King, a fellow actor he met at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.

Based in north London, the loved-up couple have been married for nearly 14 years and have seen both of their careers blossom since their studies.

Hull-born Emma has an impressive portfolio of Shakespearean roles under her belt alongside film and TV credits including The Vanishing (2018), Dagr (2024) and the space Western series Cowboy Bebop (2021), which Alex also starred in.

Besotted Alex regularly shares snaps on his Instagram of his wife, alongside adoring notes of affection.

‘Love this woman’, he simply stated in November 2021 alongside a snap of the couple together.

Prior to this, the Essex-born star told his 15,700 followers in another Instagram post: ‘What an unbelievable joy it is to share the screen with my amazingly talented wife @emma_emmaking as Dr Godard in Episode 8 of #cowboybebop. 

‘We had the best time and think a spin off show would go down a treat. We aren’t like that at home I promise! – Also huge thanks to @tomburstynphotography for these awesome shots of us together. #happilymarried #husbandandwifeteam #behindthescenes.’

Emma is equally complimentary about her husband online, regularly sharing posts dedicated to the Rivals actor on her Instagram page, where she boasts hundreds of followers.

In 2021, she posted a sweet photograph from their big day to celebrate their tenth anniversary, with the newlyweds smiling at one another while sharing an embrace in the romantic snap. 

‘Happy anniversary @alexanderhassell I never knew it was possible to feel this loved or to love this much,’ she captioned the image. ‘I don’t always know what I’m doing but I know I couldn’t do it without you.’

Emma also documented their getaway to Los Angeles, California, in March 2020, on Instagram, including trips to the beach and a poolside date. 

In her caption, Emma gushed over her husband, writing: ‘Well LA, I think I might have fallen for you a little on this trip and I definitely fell even more in love with you @alexanderhassell if that’s even possible!’ 

The jet-setting couple celebrated Alex’s 40th birthday in New Zealand, with Emma posting a round-up of pictures from their holiday on Instagram. Her final photo showed her and Alex sharing a passionate kiss on a rooftop. 

Paying tribute to her ‘incredible’ husband, Emma captioned the post: ‘This incredible man is 40!! What an honour and a privilege it is to share my life with the wonder that is @alexanderhassell Happy birthday baby!’

In an earlier post commemorating Alex’s birthday, Emma described their life together as a ‘crazy party’ while honouring the Rivals star as ‘the most amazing person I know’ – and perhaps the least camera shy. 

Before his libidinous turn as Rupert in Rivals saw him drop his pants in the show’s opening scene, Alex bared it all for The Boys – Prime Video’s critically-acclaimed superhero satire. 

In an interview with iNews, Alex revealed that Emma had playfully teased him about stripping on screen, quipping he’d better stop ‘before I get a name for myself’ – but it may be too late for that. 

When viewers of Rivals first meet retired Olympian show jumper-turned-Tory MP Rupert, he’s mid-romp with tabloid journalist Beattie Johnson – in the bathroom of a Concorde jet, no less.

The next time audiences at home see him, the womanising anti-hero of Cooper’s novel is playing a friendly game of naked tennis with Sarah Stratton (played by Emily Atack). 

Discussing the full-frontal nude scene in an interview with Metro, The Miniaturist actor said that, while there had been conversations about whether he would use a prosthetic to film the sex scenes, they ultimately decided against it. 

‘Well, my hair’s dyed, I’ve got a fake tan and my eyelashes are curled but apart from that it’s all me,’ he quipped.

Since the release of Rivals, Alex’s performance as Rutshire county’s most notorious playboy has catapulted him into the league of internet boyfriends – a level of fame he says he wasn’t expecting when he signed the show. 

He was, however, made aware that a large part of playing Rupert would ‘involve being incorrigible and taking my kit off’, Alex told Grazia UK. 

And while he admitted the ‘fun of sex is a big part’ of Cooper’s Rutshire Chronicles, ultimately the bonkbuster raises profound questions about monogamy, marriage, and infidelity. 

When asked about the secret to his and Emma’s happy marriage, Alex said they were both aware of the dichotomy of being an actor – ‘have a thin skin to do a good job and a thick skin to withstand’ the pressures of the industry.’ 

‘We have a piece of art over our kitchen table that says: “Well hi! Good morning! Ready for more bullsh*t?” That is very helpful.’

Alex has enjoyed a diverse and distinguished career so far – with big Shakespeare roles in Henry V and The Tempest – but it’s a mahogany-hued lothario invented by Dame Jilly in the late 80s that has made him a household name. 

Facing off on screen against David Tennant, who plays Campbell-Black’s fiercest rival, regional TV station controller Lord Tony Baddingham, Alex’s profile has soared with his portrayal of the sex-obsessed ex Olympian turned Tory MP.  

Alex grew up in Leigh-on-Sea, just outside Southend in Essex, with his dad, a vicar, mum and three older siblings. 

His first brush with acting came when he went to see a production of The Rock Nativity at a nearby theatre. 

The Rivals star told The Guardian in 2015 that growing up as the youngest of four children had left needing ‘to show off’. 

Secondary school, Moulsham High in Chelmsford saw the actor introduced to the Bard for the first time by a drama teacher, Lesley Davis, with a love for Hamlet.

Alex told a local newspaper when he was performing in Henry V at the Barbican that school had set him on the path to discovering Britain’s most prolific playwright: ‘They really got me into Shakespeare and taught me that I could speak those words and understand what they meant.’

Honing his acting skills at young drama school, the Junior Guildhall, Alex went on to secure a place at the Central School of Speech and Drama in North London.

Acting since 2001, he has appeared in a string of impressive productions, spanning film, theatre and TV. 

After appearances in British acting staples such as The Bill and Silent Witness, he bagged a role as superhero Translucent in series one of the ongoing black comedy The Boys.

Two years later, he had his longest television series stint as Vicious in Cowboy Bebop, an American space Western series based on the anime of the same name.

He donned an ice blonde wig again in 2022 for his role as Metatron in the final series of the BBC /HBO adaptation of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials.

Alex’s first Hollywood role came in 2017 when he starred opposite Matt Damon, Julianne Moore, and Oscar Isaac in black comedy crime film Suburbicon.

The star is also heavily involved in the theatre with some of his first roles being in plays such as Blood And Ice and Arthur Miller’s Death Of A Salesman.

He has more recently starred as Hal in Henry IV Parts I and II, and Henry in Henry V, for the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Alex is the co-founder of The Factory Theatre Company whose patrons include Ewan McGregor, Emma Thompson, and Bill Nighy.

Full frontal nudity, THAT titillating tennis scene and bare bottoms galore: All the raunchiest moments in Rivals as fans praise new Disney+ ‘bonkbuster’ as a ‘masterclass in storytelling’

Steamy scenes between the racy residents of Rutshire left viewers gasping this weekend as Jilly Cooper’s long-awaited new bonk-buster TV series Rivals debuted on Disney +. 

The eight-part series, hailed as the sexiest thing to hit our screens this year, is set in 1986 and follows the cut throat world of television, focusing on the tense rivalry between polo-loving lothario Rupert Campbell-Black (Alex Hassell) and Lord Tony Baddingham (David Tennant).

Just nine seconds into the show, two people join the Mile High Club – in the toilet of a Concorde. 

During several parties and luncheons in Lord Baddingham’s country pile, steamy affairs and star-crossed yearnings between the residents of the aptly named county of Rutshire are explored.

At the centre of the romp fest is dishy Rupert, a Conservative MP who legions of women – married or unmarried – are trying to seduce.

In the first episode, one female character brazenly announces: ‘I’m one of the few women around here who hasn’t been ravished by Rupert’.

Ahead of the show’s release, executive producer Dominic Treadwell-Collins warned viewers there’s an ‘equal opportunities’ approach to nudity and suggested viewers will see ‘a willy for every pair of t***.’ 

According to Disney+, Rivals is a ‘joyously mischievous rollercoaster ride, steamy in its love stories’.

From passionate love making on Concorde to the balcony of a Spanish villa and even a chicken coop, the eight-part series has certainly set pulses racing.

A SUPERSONIC START: MILE-HIGH MISCHIEF ON CONCORDE

It’s no surprise that Concorde, the supersonic passenger jet that could get you from London to the Big Apple in just three hours, provides the backdrop to a very saucy opening encounter.

Just nine seconds into the Disney+ adaptation, Cooper’s sex-obsessed protagonist is seen getting up close and personal with Fleet Street journalist Beattie Johnson (Annabel Scholey) – who’s wearing a perfectly 80s candy pink skirt suit, sunglasses and red stilettoes – in the aircraft’s compact loo.

Rupert’s buttocks introduce the show, thrusting over tabloid hack Beatrice, who has her heels nowhere near the floor and her matching red nails plunged into her lover’s skin.

A champagne cork pops to mark Concorde’s ascent to a mile high, and moments later the cabin crew begin to wonder why the occupied sign is still on.

Shortly after a flustered-looking Beatrice emerges to take her seat followed by Mr Campbell-Black, smooth-talking the cabin crew and winking at another female passenger as he saunters back down the aisle.

One stunned viewer said: ‘The first scene of Rivals was a man’s cheeks.’

Another added: ‘I’m only eight minutes into Rivals but it’s just as expected. Huge fun. I imagine younger folk might find it problematic but it’s certainly the rollicking bonkbuster I thought it might be.’

ANYONE FOR TENNIS? RUPERT AND A FRIEND’S WIFE PLAY TENNIS IN THE BUFF

If the opening scene introduces viewers to Rupert’s thrusting backside, by the time the first episode is 22 minutes in, there’s a whole lot more to see.

A famous scene in Dame Jilly’s original 1988 book sees Rupert playing one of his favourite sports – tennis – ‘sans clothes’, and it’s enough to make viewers go as red as the strawberries at Wimbledon.

His opponent in the match, which takes place on a secluded court in the grounds of his country pile, is Tory WAG Sarah Stratton (Emily Atack).

She’s married to the wife of Deputy Prime Minister Paul Stratton (Rufus Jones) but that doesn’t seem to worry either her or Rupert too much – and she too has also been very much liberated from any kind of tennis attire.

As the pair argue about whether a ball is ‘ten inches over the line’, their game is interrupted by 20-year-old neighbour Taggie (Bella McClean) – while Sarah flees into the undergrowth, Rupert is entirely unfazed by his nudity.

One viewer was lost for words, simply declaring: ‘THE NAKED TENNIS SCENE!’ 

A CLOSE ENCOUNTER IN THE CLOAK ROOM

While sipping champagne at a stately home in episode two, ex-Olympian Campbell-Black swaggers out of the dining room and into the cloak room with Sarah – his on-again off-again lover.

During the steamy sequence, the other diners are watching Sarah on television.

She is being interviewed about her scandalous relationship with deputy prime minister Paul Stratton who she worked for as a secretary.

As the interview plays out, Sarah is seen sweating with Campbell-Black in the room next door.

Again, it is 20-year-old Taggie who stumbles on the affair and watches the action through a crack in the door before Rupert makes direct eye contact with her.

A similar high-risk romp takes place between production assistant Daysee Butler (Lara Peake) and disgraced Hollywood star Johnny Friedlaender (Adam Rotherburg) in the studio’s postroom – moments before he goes live on television.

THE CLIMAX MONTAGE…WHERE (ALMOST) EVERYONE IS INVOLVED

If the first episode started with a bang on Concorde, then it certainly ends that way as well, with almost every character introduced appearing in a montage of intimate moments.

Sarah Stratton is involved in one of the scenes, with her Deputy PM husband Paul Stratton.

And Danny Dyer, starring as Freddie Jones, a self-made electronics millionaire, appears to be enjoying some time between the sheets way more than his social-climbing wife Valerie (Lisa McGrillis).

There’s a same-sex encounter too as Charles Fairburn (Gary Lamont) gets to grips with a young lover – and Depeche Mode’s Just Can’t Get Enough plays over the top of the action.

Viewers are treated to another pulse-racing montage in episode six with settings including the back of a golf cart, a barn and a chicken coop.

TENNANT’S ‘EROTIC ECSTASY’ THAT ENDED IN INJURY

In a recent interview, David Tennant revealed he injured himself while filming an intensely sexy scene on set.

Speaking on Heart radio, the Doctor Who star, 53, confessed to show hosts Alex Hassell and Pandora Christie that the incident actually happened when he was riled up in the moment of passion and overly keen to jump into bed.

He said: ‘I had to launch myself onto a bed at one point, in some moment of what is going to a be sort of erotic ecstasy, and slightly mis-timed it.

‘I ended up smashing my knee open on the bed frame.

To which Alex replied: ‘He does his own stunts’.

David joked: ‘It wasn’t my sexiest move’ before Pandora attempted to reassure him by adding: ‘No, well it depends on what you’re into!’

The Doctor Who star also told Cosmopolitan of his poorly timed injury.

‘My knee I smashed up diving onto a bed, to indulge in some sexual ecstasy,’ the 53-year-old Scottish actor revealed while chatting about the new show. 

‘Not good timing. Smashed my knee.’

Despite the behind-the-scenes mishap, Jilly Cooper fans have praised the series and its casting team.

One enthusiastic viewer asked who cast David Tennant, Alex Hassell and Aidan Turner in the same show because they ‘don’t know where to look’.

The same fan branded Rivals a ‘dilf convention’. 

Paso Doble? An unlikely pair get steamy in Spain

American actress Nafessa Williams makes her UK debut in Rivals as powerful producer Cameron Cook – and her character is not excluded from the more steamy scenes.

In episode six, Cook attends a TV awards ceremony in Spain and bumps into heartthrob Rupert.

The pair embark on a holiday romance and seem to make love in every corner of their Spanish villa – including the balcony.

After one particularly steamy romp, Cook says: ‘I want you to pay more attention to my clitoris this time. Don’t be shy.’

‘Well I am a member of the Clitory Party,’ Campbell-Black remarks and they proceed to get down to business on the balcony.

Keeping up with the Mediterranean dirty-talking references, Campbell-Black refers to his member being as ‘hard as the Rock of Gibraltar’.

A slow-burn romance, a willow tree and a shirtless Danny Dyer

While the show itself has been met with high praise, it is Danny Dyer who is being held up by viewers as a standout performer.

He plays the role of Freddie an electronics businessman extraordinaire – a character viewers have said he plays with ‘nuance’, while others have demanded a spin-off show just for his part.

One viewer said: ‘It’s taken me three episodes to realise who Danny Dyer is playing, he is that good.’

But it was his slow-burn romance with Lizzie Vereker, as played by actress Katherine Parkinson, that set pulses racing.

In the final episode of the first series, they finally break the sexual tension between them with a steamy scene beneath a willow tree.

Fans watched with their jaws on the floor as a shirtless Danny Dyer lays his partner down on the ground and says: ‘I’m going to declare this an area of outstanding natural beauty.’

The self-made millionaire then pours champagne onto her naked body, and proceeds to lick it off of her.

After watching the romp fest, GB News journalist Simon McCoy quipped on X: ‘Working at ITV in the 80s, as I did. Living in the Cotswolds, as we do. Being fans of Jilly Cooper, as we are… I thought throwing a “Rivals” themed party was a smashing idea. My wife was firm in her response.’