*Warning: This article contains Bridgerton season two spoilers*
Bridgerton has captured the world’s imagination and had used dreaming of house dresses, bejewelled tiaras, ribbon chokers and feather-trimmed heels for the best part of four years.
In December 2020, the Shonda Rhimes-produced show arrived on Netflix with a bang, and made us fall in love with actors Nicola Coughlan, Regé-Jean Page and Phoebe Dynevor, and regency-style drama. A month later, the streaming platform announced the show had become its biggest ever launched series – outranking The Witcher, Stranger Things and The Queen’s Gambit – and reaching 41% of all Netflix subscribers.
After a long, and what seemed like an agonising wait for fans, season two of the show dropped on Netflix in March 2022, welcoming old faces (Dynevor as Daphne Bridgerton, Adjoa Andoh as Lady Danbury, Jonathan Bailey as Anthony Bridgerton) and new ( Simone Ashley as Kate Sharma and Charithra Chandran as Edwina Sharma).Unsurprisingly, the second season went down a storm with fans, despite perhaps fewer steamy sex scenes and the absence of Page (aka Simon Basset, The Duke Of Hastings).
Bridgerton fans have since been left in mourning after bingewatching season two in one sitting (who came blame them?), and we’re now looking ahead to a third season of the hit TV show, the first part of which is now available to stream .
Is Bridgerton season three confirmed?
Yes, indeed it is.
On April 13, 2021, Netflix confirmed not only a third season for the award-winning show, but a fourth too. Announced in typical Bridgerton style – via Lady Whistledown, of course – the statement read:Esteemed members of the Ton,
It seems we have a rather special announcement. Bridgerton shall return for seasons three and four. This author shall have to purchase more ink…
Yours Truly, Lady Whistle down
Rhimes, the brains behind the Bridgerton TV adaptation (plus Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal and more) also gave a statement following the news:
‘From the first time I read Julia Quinn’s delicious Bridgerton series, I knew these were stories that would captivate a viewing audience ,’ Rhimes said. ‘But the evolution of this adaptation would not be a success without the many significant contributions of the entire Shondaland team. This two-season pickup is a strong vote of confidence in our work… Betsy [Beers[ and I are thrilled to have the opportunity to continue bringing the world of Bridgerton to a worldwide audience.’
In a March interview with Entertainment Tonight, Rhimes revealed season three was being written, but wouldn’t shed light on its plot.
Ashley later revealed to E! News that the next installment will ‘get super steamy’. While speaking to the news outlet at Time100’s Next Gala, she said it’s ‘condensation central’. In reference to the season three plot, she enthused: ‘I’m very happy when I’m reading the scripts. When I receive them, I’ve got a beaming smile on my face.’
While refraining from giving away any specific details, Ashley referenced the burgeoning romance between Colin (Luke Newton) and Penelope (Coughlan) – the focus of the third season. ‘It’s Polin, love and new beginnings,’ she said of what to expect.
Ashley previously opened up about season three exclusively with Deadline following the release of season two. ‘We’re going to be back! Kate and Anthony are just getting started,’ she revealed.
‘We have the amazing Jess Brownell who is taking the lead as showrunner in season three. In season two, there was a lot of push and pull between Kate and Anthony, there were complications with the family, and then they found each other towards the end. I think everything is just starting. I’d like to see Kate just let go a little more and play more in season three and kind of swim in that circle of love together. I think they both deserve it.’
On October 2, 2022, former ELLE UK cover star Coughlan took to Instagram to defend the upcoming third season, per The Independent. This came after it was announced earlier in 2022 that instead of focussing on Julia Quinn’s third book, which highlights Benedict Bridgerton’s search for the ‘one’, the third season of the show will explore Coughlan’s character Penelope Featherington and her romance with Colin Bridgerton. Fans later took to Instagram to share their frustration, suggesting that the season should instead focus on Claudia Jessie’s Eloise Bridgerton instead.
‘I’m late about this news. But I heard next installment is about Penelope and Colin. That’s ridiculous. She everyone’s life, get the money and just walk away with happy ending, [sic]’ one ruined person wrote.
‘The next season should be about Eloise, but instead the make it for minor fans. Good luck [sic],’ added another.
In response, Coughlan took to her Instagram stories to write: ‘Loads of people get mad at me for things Penelope did, but I really didn’t do them because it’s a script and I saw the words and do acting. Please be nice to me. [sic]
‘I will never have any say over storylines, what order stories are going in, what’s on posters, who’s on posters, who’s doing what press. That’s, like, way beyond my skill set.
‘I’m there to do the acting and, you know, I don’t have a choice in most things. I wouldn’t be like, “This my best hair look”,’ she added, sharing a promotional shot of her character. I mean, I was meant to look like that and Lou [Bannell] who did this hair and makeup, I love you. But, I was meant to look like a sad poodle, so I looked like a sad poodle.’
Speaking in January 2024, Coughlan shared her excitement at the upcoming season. ‘I’m so excited, I honestly can’t wait, the fans of Bridgerton are amazing and they are impatient for the series, and I’m like, “You think you’re impatient, you’ve no idea how impatient I feel about it”, but it’ll be finally coming out in 2024.
Luke Newton plays Colin who is my love interest in the show is so wonderful. They’ve upgraded my wig as you can see and that was a real delight.’
In March 2024, the star got fans even more excited, telling hosts of The One Show that even though Penelope is ‘always having a terrible time, a big ‘change’ is coming for her character in season three.
‘It is eight months filming for a season, it changes so much, it is a very action packed season,’ said Coughlan, speaking to hosts Lauren Laverne and Jermaine Jenas. She didn’t give too much more away, but it’s safe to speculate that her comments likely refer to her complicated ongoing friendship-romance with Colin.
As of April 2024, there are rumors that this season of Bridgerton will be the raciest yet, with some exciting scenes in the works. Reportedly (per The Sun), the series will feature a lesbian sex scene and a threesome.
Commenting on the sex scenes she filmed for the show, Coughlan told Entertainment Weekly: ‘We did break a piece of furniture while doing one scene. It’s a little bit like a stunt in which they’re like, “Okay, we’re gonna do this, this, and this”.’
In an interview from May 15 with Radio Times ahead of the third season’s premiere, Coughlan reiterated her comments. ‘There is one where I am very naked on camera and that was my idea, my choice,’ she told the outlet. ‘It just felt like the biggest ‘f*** you’ to all the conversations surrounding my body. It was amazingly empowering. Having now watched those scenes, I’m so proud of them.’
The series’ showrunner, Jess Brownell, who has taken the reins this season from creator Chris Van Dusen, confirmed to Pride that there will be some sort of queer romantic frisson in the third outing too.
‘This is a show about love in its many forms and I think that it’s only right for us to foreground queer love and to tell queer stories. I want to see more queer joy on my screens and that was definitely a priority for me when I stepped into the showrunner role,’ she told the outlet. ‘How exactly that plays out over this season and the next couple seasons, I can’t say specifically, but I will say I’m excited for fans to see that.’
What happened in Bridgerton season two?
To recap, the second season’s plot focuses on the eldest Bridgerton sibling, Viscount Anthony Bridgerton, and his love for Kate Sharma, the eldest sister of his wife-to-be, Edwina Sharma. Viscount Bridgerton thinks he’ll never find a ‘love match’ and views marriage as nothing more than a necessity in order to continue his family’s legacy, but a meeting with Kate Sharma soon changes his mind.
In the end, he proposes to Kate and, despite her reluctance at the beginning given her concern over how her sister Edwina would react, she agrees to follow her heart and say ‘yes’. The pair finally get married at the end of the season, and the Queen tells Edwina that she has a nephew – who is a prince – that she would love to introduce her to.
Speaking about her character’s connection with Viscount Bridgerton in season two, Sharma told Deadline: ‘[Kate is] in charge of the household now and she’s got big boots to put on. I think she can do it.
‘I want to keep that softness and vulnerability to Kate, for sure, and she can share that with Anthony. I’m just excited for her to have a home and to have a family. I’m excited to see her grow. I think I’d like to see Kate being much braver and less headstrong and more heart strong.’
What is the Bridgerton season three plot?
In May 2022, we learned that Nicola Coughlan (Penelope Featherington, aka Lady Whistledown), will be the focus of season three, and the former ELLE UK cover star later opened up about whether she’s prepared to film intimate sex scenes.
Appearing on E! News’ Daily Pop, she said: ‘I’m gonna have to be!’
She admitted, however, that it’s ‘terrifying’ taking the forefront position in the next season, but added she’s ‘known for a really long time’ and so has had a chance to get her head around the idea.
She said: ‘I’ve known for, like, two weeks into filming season two, so I had a lot of time to adjust to it.
‘But then, last night when they were like, “The news is coming out. You can talk about it,” I was like, “I don’t want to. I’m too scared.” When I say it out [loud], it makes it real.’
When appearing on the ATAS panel for the opening night of Netflix’s FYSEE Space on Sunday May 15, she confirmed that season three will put her character Penelope’s love story with Colin Bridgerton at the center.
She explained, per People: ‘Like Lady Whistledown, I have been keeping a secret for quite some time and I can confirm to you all that season three is Colin and Penelope’s love story.’
‘I have kept that secret since two weeks into season two. This is the first time I am saying it here.’
Speaking at a Valentine’s Day fan panel hosted by Netflix, Coughlan also teased fans with the news of a ‘love triangle.’
Of Colin’s offer to help Penelope find a husband, Coughlan quipped, ‘She’s like, “Fine, I don’t love you at all. This will work out great with no problems.” So she finds some suitors, some more successful than others. But one is very, very fond of her.’
Speaking to Radio Times in May 2024 about what fans can expect in part two of the series, Brownell revealed: ‘The drama definitely notches up in the back half.’
She continued: I think Penelope’s secret is weighing really heavily over her and I think you’re also going to see a lot more romance in the back half. You know, Pen and Colin are figuring things out and there’s some time to just live in that for a bit.
According to a synopsis shared by the streaming platform, when the new season opened, Penelope gave up on her ‘long-held crush’ on Colin, after being left hurt by his cruel-spirited comments about her. She has instead decided that the time is right for her to find a husband, however, Penelope lacks confidence, and her attempts to meet a potential partner fail ‘spectacularly’.Colin, meanwhile, has ‘returned from his summer travels with a new look and a serious sense of swagger’, but he is disheartened when he sees that Penelope is ‘giving him the cold shoulder’. Colin offers to mentor Penelope but, in true Bridgerton fashion, his lessons start taking effect, and Colin must work out whether his feelings for Penelope are ‘truly just friendly’.
There has been chemistry between Penelope and Colin since season one, although modified.
But while sparks continued to fly between them in the last season, Colin was heard telling a group of friends that he’d ‘never dreamed of courting’ her.
Speaking to High Life in April 2024, Newton said that, contradicting popular opinion, filming sex scenes with Coughlan was actually ‘a breeze.’
‘Looking back, it was a breeze,’ he told the outlet. ‘She’s my friend, so we just giggle about it. There are those moments when you come out of your body and go, “Oh, millions of people will see this.” But then I’ve been an actor for many years now. People have seen my performance on stage and other shows, so you feel confident.’
Speaking to InStyle in May 2024, Newton also confessed that Page advised him to go on a ‘big holiday before all the madness starts.’
‘[Regé] sort of grabbed me, gave me a big hug and was like, “Are you ready for this, bro?” Johnny’s [Bailey] been there kind of the whole way for me,’ he said.
Newton’s interview comes after Coughlan admitted in an interview of her own that the pair became ‘so comfortable’ with each other while filming the third season that they would lounge together naked in between filming sex scenes.
Season three is based on the fourth installment in Julia Quinn’s book series, Romancing Mr Bridgerton, rather than the third novel, An Offer From A Gentleman, which focuses on the second Bridgerton brother, Benedict.
Speaking to Bustle about the fan theory that, if Penelope gives up the title of Lady Whistledown Lady Danbury might assume the title, Andoh said: ‘I think she can applaud Lady Whistledown, but that is not her way. I think Lady Danbury absolutely applauds and celebrates the wit of Lady Whistledown — the chutzpah, if you like — and the good writing. But I think she has her own structures that she has operated successfully since she had it out with Princess Augusta in Queen Charlotte.’
Would the Bridgerton season three cast be the same as seasons one and two?
Phoebe Dynevor, who plays Daphne Basset (née Bridgerton), sent fans into a panic by suggesting that her character might not be returning for Bridgerton’s upcoming season three.
The actor hinted at the news during a recent interview with Screen Rant at the Sundance Film Festival, in response to the question of whether there will be ‘any exciting dynamics coming up for Daphne in Bridgerton season three?’Dynevor responded: ‘Sadly not in season three. Potentially in the future. But season three, I’m just excited to watch as a viewer.’ Netflix is yet to confirm the news.
Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that Ruby Stokes, who starred as Francesca Bridgerton for the last two seasons of Bridgerton, is leaving for a role in another Netflix series – Lockwood & Co.
Taking up the reins instead is Hannah Dodd, who starred in domestic crime drama Anatomy Of A Scandal, alongside the likes of Sienna Miller, Rupert Friend and Michelle Dockery.
Stokes had a fleeting appearance in season one and starred in just three episodes of season two. Somewhat of a mystery, her character is reserved but joins in with family affairs. She treads carefully and has a cunning sense of humor that leaves us interested.
Other new cast members include Daniel Francis as Marcus Anderson, Sam Phillips as Lord Debling, and James Phoon as Harry Dankworth. Francis’ character is set to be a charming man, who draws the attention of the show’s matriarchs while Lord Debling is a man of wealth, and may stir trouble between Penelope and Colin’s relationship as he will be one of Penelope’s potential suitors. It’s expected that Dankworth’s good looks will catch the eyes of the ladies.
Besides Lord Debling, no further information has been revealed about both Marcus Anderson and Harry Dankworth, and where they will sit in the plot.
As for the rest of the cast, Ashley has already spoken about her excitement over the script, and we imagine the others will reprise their roles, unless some of the stars back out of the production.
Considering the books chronicle the Bridgerton family in particular, we are hoping that the eight siblings will feature in each episode.
On Reddit, viewers discovered in September 2023 that The Girl Before star David Mumeni has joined the cast of the third season in a regular role, according to his official portfolio, leading many fans to wonder where his character Lord Samadani will fit into the new series .
‘I think he’s got something to do with Penelope and Colin,’ one Redditor suggested. ‘The only ones who follow him on Instagram are Luke [Thompson] and Nicola [Coughlan] (and vice versa), and they have shared things from his account.’
Other eagle-eyed fans noted that Mumeni’s regular role indicates he will be featured heavily in the new season. ‘A regular role is defined as one of the main characters, appearing in nearly every episode,’ one fan commented, while another weighed in: ‘I cannot think of anyone else from the books who would be a regular unless he’s a Benedict plotline made for this season?’
On April 2, 2021 Netflix announced – via a letter from Lady Whistledown – that Regé-Jean Page’s character wouldn’t feature in season two of the hit show, stating: ‘We will miss Simon’s presence onscreen, but he will always be a part of the Bridgerton family.’
