Jonathan Bailey is going to be sufficiently shirtless in the long-awaited second season of Bridgerton, if the trailer is anything to by.

And as it’s Bridgerton, we’re pretty much legally guaranteed to get a fair few sex scenes, mainly involving the show’s new lead, the tomcatting Anthony Bridgerton played by Bailey.

Filming the scenes comes with its own few hurdles that viewers don’t ever get to see, but Bailey opened up about the show’s steamy scenes becoming a reality – and they apparently involve netballs.

Jonathan Bailey learned ‘new tricks’ after filming Bridgerton sex scenes

Ahead of its return to Netflix 25 March, the 33-year-old British actor told Radio Times magazine how sex and dancing are at “the heart of the show”.

Bailey said that he learned “new tricks to the trade” from the programme’s intimacy coordinator.

“It’s amazing how that whole industry has just come on, even in a year,” he said.

“There are new tricks to the trade – little cushions – and it’s amazing what you can do with a half-inflated netball.”

Each to their own, we suppose.

Jonathan Bailey in Bridgeton. (Nick Briggs/Netflix)

“Well, if there are two people doing a sex scene, the rule is they must have three barriers separating them and there are certain acts where a half-inflated netball can allow for movement without having to connect physically,” Bailey added.

“It’s pretty silly really and we have some hilarious moments, but it makes it less awkward.”

Jonathan Bailey also experienced obstacles when chasing a career in acting, mainly in the form of coarse advice from an actor friend.

“There’s two things we don’t want to know,” the friend told him, Bailey recounted to GQ Hype, “if you’re an alcoholic or if you’re gay.”

The comment, he said, tormented him for years. As much as he had come out as gay to his friends and family in his 20s, he suppressed his sexuality as he tried to get his foot in the door.

The 33-year-old came out as gay in 2018. He had long been hesitant to do so, wary of casting directors pigeonholing him into certain stereotypical roles or ignoring him altogether.

“I thought that in order to be happy I needed to be straight,” Bailey admitted.

“I reached a point where I thought, ‘F**k this,’ I’d much prefer to hold my boyfriend’s hand in public or be able to put my own face picture on Tinder and not be so concerned about that than get a part.”