The actor is such a good rider after his five years on Poldark that it seemed rude not to - even though his character doesn't ride in the books16:43, 21 May 2026Updated 14:32, 22 May 2026As dashing Ross Poldark, Aidan Turner spent many hours galloping up and down the windswept Cornish coast for the hit BBC drama.‌So when he discovered there would be horse-riding scenes in series two of Rivals - including polo matches - you can imagine the actor’s dismay when he discovered they didn’t actually involve him. But fans of Poldark, which ended in 2019, will be delighted to learn that their former hero will get the chance to ride again - after conducting his own campaign to get Declan O’Hara into the saddle.‌Aidan, 42, explained that he had bonded with the late author Dame Jilly Cooper over their shared love of riding, which had helped him to succeed in his mission.‌READ MORE: Why Emily Atack is the new Barbara Windsor - inside Rivals' raunchiest series yetREAD MORE: Zoe Ball in shock at 'terrifying' story of ancestor jailed at two years old in silent prison with no light“I was always desperate to get on a horse!” the actor laughed. “I ride horses – that’s no secret – and I have a real fondness for horses, as did Jilly. I said to Dominic Treadwell-Collins, our show-runner: ‘Do everything you can to get me on a horse. Declan’s a horsey guy – he’s an Irishman, he’s a country guy, it would just make complete sense. And I can ride! So put me on one’.”Dominic clearly saw the merit in the suggestion, and it won’t be long before fans get to see TV executive and presenter Declan doing his best Poldark impression - albeit with a bushy moustache this time around. “Whether I’m on a polo pitch playing polo or not, I can’t say,” Aidan teased. “I might be adjacent to that in some way.”‌Poldark ran on BBC1 for five years from 2015, pulling in a huge Sunday night audience of around 7million loyal fans. The dramatic clifftop riding scenes, filmed at St Agnes Head, often showed Ross going between his home, Nampara, and Trenwith, the home of his former fiancé Elizabeth Warleggan.Eagle-eyed fans will know that Aidan’s mission to show off his riding prowess, along with his hairy chest, was successful - because there is the briefest clip of him at full gallop in the Disney+ trailer for series two, complete with unbuttoned shirt.‌And this is not the only horseplay that goes on for Declan this series - the opening episode had an extremely sexy shower scene between him and wife Maud, played by Victoria Smurfit. “That was actually Victoria’s very first day of the shoot,” he revealed. “We’d already been filming maybe four or five weeks before her first day, so she was met with a shower scene upon arrival on a Monday morning. We had hot water so they could generate steam – I’m sure it was for an aesthetic purpose rather than our benefit! But it’s fun. Victoria and I are very comfortable with each other.”Aidan said that, before her death, Jilly had been a regular visitor to the set and was “greatly missed”. “She was just always so much fun, so proud of the show, and loved us all so much,” he said. “Only about five weeks prior, we’d been at a garden party at her house and she was on flying form – making speeches, hosting us all brilliantly. She was such a force. But I’m just so glad, we all are, that she got to see all her characters come to life.”Article continues belowWhile he does not enjoy the bushy 1980s moustache, Aidan says he wouldn’t dream of using a fake one. “No actor wants to stick on fake facial hair. It doesn’t always look great, it’s difficult to eat and difficult to smile because it just peels off,” he said.“The facial furniture – you’re not in charge of it. Somebody else owns that when you do a job like this.”Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Threads.