Bella Maclean, 24, revealed that she negotiated a no-nudity clause into her contract before taking on the role of Taggie O'Hara in the Disney+ adaptation of Dame Jilly Cooper's "Rivals." Maclean told Harper's Bazaar UK that the clause was crucial to prevent both herself and her character from being "sexually exploited," emphasizing Taggie's inherent purity.
"That was really important to me, and I think it will stay important to me," Maclean stated. "There are some things I just want to keep to myself."
Despite her personal boundary, Maclean expressed no judgment toward her co-stars who have appeared nude in the series. She noted the presence of professional intimacy coordinators on set, acknowledging that not all productions offer such support. "We're all good friends who can just say 'No' to the directors and they'll listen," she added.
The series has featured several explicit scenes, including full-frontal nudity from Danny Dyer and Aidan Turner, and naked tennis sequences involving Alex Hassell and Emily Atack. Maclean plays Taggie as she develops a relationship with the older Rupert Campbell-Black, portrayed by Hassell. While Taggie was 18 and Rupert 37 in Cooper's original 1988 novel, the series has aged Taggie to 20.
Maclean previously defended the age-gap romance as a "soul connection." She also spoke to the enduring influence of Jilly Cooper on the series, even a year after the author's death. "Jilly is the heart of everything we do, and I feel her naughtiness a lot in the second half of the new season," Maclean said. "That's all Jillyness. She pushed things."
The second half of "Rivals" season two is set to premiere on Disney+ on November 11. The December/January issue of Harper's Bazaar UK, featuring Maclean, is on sale from November 6.