Binge watched all eight episodes of Disney+’s Rivals or yet to start? Muddy has assumed the position and committed to the full bonkathon – and we’re loving every naughty second of it. But Alex Hassell’s Rupert Campbell Black has divided fans of the Jilly Cooper books – on screen he’s not the blond of the books but a dark-haired, somewhat swarthy seducer. Frankly my dear, we don’t give a damn – here’s the lowdown on Muddy’s new crush.

Hassell is an RSC leading man

The sex scenes in Rivals are putting Bridgerton to shame, and Hassell’s bottom is taking quite the starring role, but there’s more to the man than his exquisite timing of his on-screen thrusting to the Addicted to Love soundtrack. Hassell has an Royal Shakespeare Company pedigree that saw him as Prince Hal in Henry IV Parts I and II and taking the title role of Henry V to widespread acclaim. He’s also treaded the West End boards as Biff in Death of a Salesman opposite Antony Sher and Harriet Walter, and in David Hare’s I’m Not Running for The National Theatre with Jack Gould.

Hassell’s also run his own experimental theatre group, Factory which sounds chaotic, exciting and probably loads of fun. Often the actors didn’t know the part they’d be playing until 30 minutes before curtain up; sometimes even where they were performing was unclear (the audience for a performance of Julius Caesar was told to meet at Barbican Underground with no clue on where it was headed from there). Factory’s reputation eventually led to a sold-out performance at Globe Theatre so clearly the rock ‘n’ roll wasn’t at the expense of revenue.

He’s more Hollywood than you think

Undeniably, the likes of David Tennant, Aidan Turner and Danny Dyer are the bigger household names despite TV roles including The Miniaturist and His Dark Materials but, actually, Hassell has some serious US A-lister creds to flex, having starred as Ross in Joel Coen’s The Tragedy of Macbeth alongside Frances McDormand and Denzel Washington, and acted in Suburbicon directed by some bloke called George Clooney, The Red Sea Diving Resort with Sir Ben Kingsley and Violent Night, with David Harbour, John Leguizamo and Beverly D’Angelo.

Objectification? Go for it!

Any actor who is happy to spray tan his own John Thomas for a nude tennis scene and actively refuse a prosthetic alternative is, shall we say, comfy with his god-given talents. It’s on record that he has zero issue with being objectified which is just as well as he’s having sex within the first nine seconds of Rivals. If your partner is edging into squidgy midriff territory, hand him the remote and give him to watch the Hassell masterclass.

He’s a fast learner

The casting directors must have really rated Alex Hassell’s audition because they gave him the part of Olympic and World Champion show jumper Rupert Campbell Black with zero – ZERO! – horse riding experience. Cue a crash course on how to ride like a pro and show insouciant confidence; Hassell learnt to canter and performed many of his own stunts, though the artful ‘from the back’ scenes saved him from jumping fences.

Reader, he’s married

Well of course he is. The 44-year-old from Essex met his wife, fellow actor Emma King in the Eighties, at the Central School of Speech and Drama, though it took years later for them to get together. They’ve acted in several productions together, including for the RSC so who knows, maybe fiction and reality will collide in future Rutland Chronicles adaptations. Either way, with another 10 Jilly Cooper books in the series up for potential screenings, we’re here for the long term smoulder.

Stream all episodes of Rivals on Disney+ now.