Bad Sisters stars react to season 2 death: 'I just think it's brilliant’

"I knew well ahead [that she was going to die], and I just think it's a brilliant conceit," she said.

"There was so much anticipation around what would happen to Grace, where would Grace go. And Sharon's [Horgan] thrown a massive grenade into it, and so it takes that out of the story now, so now anything can happen. It's very liberating, I think."

Sarah Greene, who plays Bibi, said that the cast knew they only had Duff "for a short amount of time" because she was booked on another job.

"But I didn't know how it was going to happen until we got the first two scripts," she added. "And yeah, I was absolutely shocked. But I do think it's a great springboard for where the story goes."

Horgan, who both writes and stars in the series as Eva Garvey, echoed those comments.

"It's a massive gut-punch, but the story propels it so much after that you kind of... it's not that you leave it behind, it's just that there's so much going on.

"And the sisters are having to protect Blanaid and look after themselves, because by the time you get to [episode] 2, you realise that the cops are really moving in on them as well.

"So I think all the story kind of motivates other story. And so I'm hoping that people will get so caught up in that that they won't be angry [about Grace's death] for too long."

Big deaths also "tend to happen in every great show", added Eva Birthistle (Ursula Garvey).

"They lose somebody really important, really vital, and then it does work well for the show. But of course, there's a great loss."

Director and executive producer Dearbhla Walsh went on to say that even after such a desperately sad development, they "hope and trust people love the series, love Sharon's writing, love the sisters".

"And [they] realise that that anger is a good response, to take somebody away that you love and that then becomes part of the story, because that's part of real life," she said.

But despite Grace's absence in the remaining episodes, "she's still there, the spirit", said Duff.

"That's the thing about Grace, and I found this out watching the first series. I used to feel so away from the other sisters in season 1, but then when I watched it, they talked so much about Grace that she was always with them," she continued.

"And I think it's happened again in season 2, even though I'm not physically with you guys, they're always talking about her."

Season 2 picks up two years after the "accidental" death of Grace's abusive husband John Paul.

"The close-knit Garvey sisters may have moved on, but when past truths resurface, the ladies are thrust back into the spotlight, suspicions are at an all-time high, lies are told, secrets revealed and the sisters are forced to work out who they can trust," reads the synopsis.

Alongside Shaw, Owen McDonnell (Killing Eve, True Detective: Night Country) and Thaddea Graham (Sex Education, The Irregulars) have also joined the cast.

Returning faces include Michael Smiley (Roger Muldoon), Daryl McCormack (Matthew Claffin), Saise Quinn (Blanaid Williams), Barry Ward (Fergal Loftus), Yasmine Akram (Nora Garvey) and Jonjo O’Neill (Donal Flynn).

The first two episodes of Bad Sisters season 2 are available to stream now on Apple TV+, with the remaining episodes airing every Wednesday – sign up to Apple TV+ here.

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