The writer of the article is speculating when they say Regina’s new love interest will be in NL. They even say, “which presumably means.”
Having confirmation that we’ll meet her love interest “very early on in the season” just makes me think even more that it’ll be RH, because we know the actor arrived in Vancouver around the time they were shooting ep 2.
Regina’s goal at the start of the season is to find Henry. That’s her sole focus, she’s not interested in romance, and I’d be surprised if they wrote a romance for her while she’s in NL. Once Henry is saved, and they all get back to SB, that will be when they’ll start exploring the future focus of her character, which will involve the new love interest.
From what we’ve heard about RH having storyline with Belle, that sounds like he must be in SB. They could use his 4 ep arc with Belle to establish his character, and then get him involved with Regina as the season progresses. It would be a natural progression for both characters, instead of trying to force in an unnecessary and unbelievable romance plot for Regina when she’s already got enough other stuff going on in NL trying to rescue her son.
ETA that I just clicked the link to read the full article, and I see that where they wrote, “Does anyone else think she could be paired with him?” the “him” is a link to their story on Sean Maguire being cast as RH. Everyone pile on the RegalHood ship, there’s still plenty of room right up front. 😉