Return to Paradise stars reveal how season 2 will pick up following romantic cliffhanger

The second season of Return to Paradise is almost here, and it will pick up soon after season 1 left off, with Mackenzie (Anna Samson) coming to terms with having heard her ex, Glenn (Tai Hara), declare his love for her.

He revealed his feelings, despite his engagement to Daisy (Andrea Demetriades), while speaking with Frankie the dog, unaware that Mackenzie was in earshot.

Now, fans will finally get to see how Mackenzie deals with the news – and Samson has given us some hints, while speaking exclusively with RadioTimes.com.

"I think she may have suspected it, but I think to hear those words is a very different thing," Samson said. "There's a reality you can't ignore or suppress once you've heard them. However, he doesn't know she's heard them.

"So she starts series two with a decision to make, basically, because she can go about her life as if that didn't happen in terms of him – she'll always know – but will she? Will she say, ‘Hey, I heard that’, or won't she? And how will that impact their dynamic? I don't think the guilt that motors her around Glenn has gone at all for leaving him at the altar all those years ago.

"I think what she did, the pain she caused him, is a huge weight on her and dictates a lot of her behaviour and a lot of her oddity around him. Mackenzie has no worry about being liked, but a very true, deep part of her, and maybe all humans, is that she does want to be loved.

"And they're slightly different things, and the person that maybe loves her with the most purity is also the person that she's hurt the most. So that's not a simple dynamic for her. And looking at someone you've hurt, looking at it, facing your own mistakes, and how that has impacted someone you care about, is a very hard thing for us to do, especially with a character who's quite proud and avoidant."

Meanwhile, Glenn star Hara told us that "it was hugely complicated and conflicting" for his character in season 1, and that he has "come to terms" with Mackenzie's decision to go back to London, as he remains unaware that she's overheard him admitting his love for her.

"So I think it's a complete shock when she arrives back the next day, and it just ensues a really complex relationship straight away, especially with the wedding on the cards as well. So yeah, it's a shock and also there's a level of him being really grateful that she’s in town."

When asked about how we can expect to see Glenn and Daisy's relationship developing in season 2, Hara said that "what the writing team do so beautifully is that they don't pit the two women against each other in this love triangle".

"It's not Mack and Daisy's hate for one another," he continued. "So it makes it even more complicated for him to have to navigate. I think Glenn very much feels the same. It's his kind of pursuit of decency.

"He's loyal, he's moral. If he was to leave Daisy and go to Mack, I think that would probably almost turn her off more, because that's just not a character trait that he has.

"So I think it's this really complicated, wild balance to try and follow his heart, be respectful, but also come to terms with what is still unfinished with Mack."

Beyond the romantic plotline, Return to Paradise season 2 will see Mackenzie and the team solving more perplexing cases in Dolphin Cove, with stars including Lloyd Griffith, Catherine McClements, Celia Ireland, Aaron L McGrath and Andrea Demetriades also back in the cast.

Return to Paradise season 2 will start airing at 8pm on Friday 31st October on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

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