True crime docuseries Toxic will return for its second season on September 15, 2026, premiering on Investigation Discovery before streaming on HBO Max. The show will release new episodes every Tuesday in the United States.
Television host Elizabeth Chambers returns to present and executive produce the eight-episode season. The new installment focuses on real-life stories detailing toxic relationships, domestic abuse, and intimate partner violence.
The production draws direct inspiration from the personal experiences of Chambers during her high-profile divorce from actor Armie Hammer. The couple separated after ten years of marriage, with their divorce officially finalized in 2023.
Hammer, an actor who starred in Hollywood films including The Social Network, recently returned to public attention for his role in the controversial film Citizen Vigilante. The prolonged media coverage of the couple's matrimonial split deeply affected Chambers, prompting her to launch Toxic as an exploration of destructive relationships.
Following its initial season premiere in 2025, Toxic continues to examine how seemingly normal romantic partnerships can devolve into coercive control, physical abuse, and death. Chambers conducts personal interviews with survivors, family members, and individuals close to victims while investigating the warning signs of domestic violence.
Broadcast schedule and streaming release
The second season of Toxic debuts on television via Investigation Discovery on September 15, 2026. Network episodes will air weekly on Tuesdays in the United States.
Episodes will also be available for streaming on HBO Max, expanding the reach of the series following its cable television broadcasts. Investigation Discovery and HBO Max are both flagship platforms owned by Warner Bros. Discovery.
Investigations into real-life relationship violence
The season premiere, titled Don't Go Home, investigates the case of Jenn Holman and Jesse Winnick. What began as a relationship marked by strong physical attraction quickly degenerated into a toxic dynamic that escalated into extreme violence. Chambers speaks directly with Holman to reconstruct events that left lasting emotional trauma on her and her family.
Subsequent episodes explore allegations of coercion and abuse against a preacher connected to the Independent Fundamentalist Baptist Church network. The network comprises independent, unaffiliated Baptist congregations across the United States that operate without centralized denominational oversight.
Another installment centers on a woman whose marriage to a man double her age ended in severe sexual violence. The episode analyzes the power imbalances, coercion, and isolation that can develop within relationships with significant age gaps.
The season also revisits the May 2010 murder of Yeardley Love, a senior lacrosse player at the University of Virginia. Love was killed in her off-campus residence in Charlottesville by her ex-boyfriend, a case that generated widespread national discussion regarding intimate partner violence among college students.
