Bridgerton Star Simone Ashley Shares Swimsuit Photo “Happiest In the Sun”

1. Hardcore Training

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Ashley went through intense training for her Bridgerton role. “With Bridgerton, it’s much more intense than Sex Education in the sense that if I’m not filming, I’m horse riding, training or in rehearsals,” she says. “I’m in accent training or I’m in a fitting. I’ve never really worn a corset before, so that took some getting used to! My body definitely changed a little bit wearing it and that kind of changed my posture a lot to suit the era. Horse riding… I’ve never really ridden before. I rode once, years ago, but I did some intense training for that and it turns out I’m a natural at it so that’s a great thing!”

2. South Indian Food

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Ashley’s favorite dish is curry made by her mother. “I like making breakfast; whether it’s a smoothie or just scrambled eggs, it’s the first thing I think about, to be honest, in the morning,” she says. “I’m South Indian, so I’m Tamil, and the food… I mean my mum, she cooks the most amazing food. I love cooking. I don’t really get to do it much with traveling around all the time and being on set, so it’s nice and a bit therapeutic to use my brain in a different way.”

3. Corset Troubles

Ashley learned the hard way how difficult it is to wear a corset all day. "On my first day, I was like, 'OK, first day as a leading lady, got to eat lots of food, be really energized.' So, I had this massive portion of salmon and that's when I needed to be sick, basically because I was wearing the corset,” she says. “I realized when you wear the corset, you just don’t eat. It changes your body. I had a smaller waist very momentarily. Then the minute you stop wearing it, you're just back to how your body is. I had a lot of pain with the corset, too, I think I tore my shoulder at one point!"

4. Not Academic

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Ashley struggled with academics when growing up in the UK. "I failed at everything in school,” she says. “It was just my attention that was bad. I was awful – at maths, all of that stuff. Just had no interest. And my brother would force me and sit me down, bless him, and get me to revise, get me to study. He tried so hard and I just had zero interest in it. I was very stubborn in that sense. If I didn’t like it, then I just wouldn’t do it."

5. Hiking and Sunshine

Ashley took full advantage of the outdoors hiking scene while working in Los Angeles. “I do love LA,” she says. “I have more fun here, when I’m out here, and I eat better; I think it’s the sun. It just makes me feel a bit more energized and proactive. I used to drive a little Mustang when I was living out here, and I loved it. I’d always have Fleetwood Mac blasting and I’d just take off. I grew up listening to that kind of music. The Doors, Rolling Stones, Fleetwood.”