I guess it could be someone new except adding another new character on top of PP, Tink, Ariel, random Lost Boys and maybe Ursula and Triton feels heavy and unfocused and too many new characters was the problem last season. It almost has to be someone we already know.
But like I said before, they’ve used terms like, “we’ll be meeting” and Adam tweeting “her new love is coming soon”, makes it sound like someone who isn’t already there to me. Also, anyone who’s already there wouldn’t be a healthy relationship for Regina IMO. HookedQueen would be hot, but I think they’re each too personally destructive to be able to support each other in a healthy, long lasting relationship.
Like you mentioned, it’d mean adding yet another new character, on top of ones we’re already getting. That’s a reason why I think RH is a realistic candidate. We may have met him before, but just barely. It’s not like we actually know him yet, (don’t know him at all with his new face), but we know we’re gonna get to. That qualifies RH as a “coming soon” type of character. If they’re looking to try and keep the cast from bloating this season, why bother bringing back RH at all if he’s just gonna be around to hang out with Belle for a few eps? Grumpy could do that. There’s some specific reason they’re re-introducing RH. They’re gonna give him a story. If there’s also another newbie who is being set up for Regina, the cast is starting to snowball.
Like I said before, if he is gonna be someone new who we know nothing about yet, I’d expect to see a casting call or hear some casting news soon. This guy is meant to be seen early on in the season. We’ve only got 11 eps to play with before the hiatus. “Very early on” in a block of 11 eps suggests before ep 5, and they’re already up to filming ep 3, will have ep 4 written, and will be into planning ep 5. So we’ll see soon enough if any more info about more new characters gets leaked. If it does, I may let the RegalHood ship sink. He just seems like the prime candidate right now IMO, considering the tidbits we currently know.