Bridgerton is one of those Netflix shows people didn’t really expect to blow up the way it did.
Simone Ashley, who played Kate Sharma and was the main character of season two, just teased the next chapter. In a recent interview, she told E! News at Time100’s Next Gala that the next Bridgerton will “get super steamy.” She even added that it’s “condensation central.”
“I’m very happy when I’m reading the scripts,” Ashley further explained. “When I received them, I got a beaming smile on my face.”
She didn’t give away any other detail, but she did describe it as “Polin, love, and new beginnings.”
Netflix is yet to announce the release date, but it’s currently in production, and if all goes well, it will wrap up by December 2022. Here’s hoping for its release next year.
Season 3 is about Colin and Penelope – or Polin, as fans like to refer to the couple.
Credit: @bridgerton
Those who have read the series of novels were pleasantly surprised to find out that the next chapter is focusing on Colin and Penelope. The third book, An Offer From a Gentleman, was supposed to be about the second Bridgerton son – Benedict – and his love story with a woman named Sophie Beckett.
Instead, the producers of the hit TV series decided to shake things up and jump right into the fourth book, Romancing Mister Bridgerton.
Perhaps this was totally expected. After all, the romance between Colin and Penelope has been brewing since the first season. It doesn’t take much to figure out that they will end up together.
Nicola Coughlan, who plays Penelope Featherington, confirmed this back in May.
“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,” she announced at Netflix’s FYSEE panel. “I have kept that secret since two weeks into season two.”
Colin Bridgerton, played by Luke Newton, is just as excited to take center stage.
“There’s so much love for that relationship,” the actor told Netflix’s TUDUM, “which brings its pressures because there are people that are really excited about this story to come to the forefront. But also it really warms me.”
The next season of Bridgerton is going to be a bit different than the first two.
Credit: Bridgerton
Well, obviously.
However, the first two seasons of Bridgerton explored the enemies-to-lovers trope. This one is different in that Colin and Penelope have known each other for quite a while. Penelope has been pining for Colin for years, and yet, Colin doesn’t see her that way – yet.
“I love that we are exploring a relationship that so many people have had, where you form a friendship and you get to know each other down to the core,” Newton explained. “Then it sparks something from there.”
Of course, it goes without saying that there’s an itsy-bitsy thing that will complicate things for sure – the fact that Penelope is also the infamous Lady Whistledown. It was already revealed in season one. But how will Colin react once he finds out what Penelope has been doing on the side?
There’s also the matter of the other Bridgerton sibling. One of the plot twists of Bridgerton season two was Eloise finding out that her best friend and Lady Whistledown were one and the same.
We get to see characters from the previous seasons.
Credit: Bridgerton
Although fans already knew that Simon and Daphne wouldn’t be the focus of season two, everyone hoped they would still get a glimpse of Regé-Jean Page and Phoebe Dynevor’s married life. Alas, the romance gods ignored our pleas because Page was no longer part of the second season. And although readers knew the brooding and smoldering Duke of Hastings barely made an appearance in the second book, we were still crushed when Page departed the series that propelled him to superstardom.
Luckily, for fans of Kate Sharma (Simone Ashley) and Anthony (Jonathan Bailey), that’s not the case, and the pair will be back for season three.
“Yes, there will be a post-marriage Kanthony story for sure,” Ashley teased in March.
“And I’m super excited for the world to see Nicola and Luke rock it,” she continued, “but also to just play with the Anthony and Kate story now that they’re loved up and they’ve kind of sorted themselves out.”
There will be new faces too – actress Hannah New as Lady Tilley Arnold, a firebrand widow, and Hannah Dodd, who will replace Ruby Stokes as Francesca Bridgerton.
It’s going to be a long wait.
We hope not, actually. The first two seasons were released two years apart, but we’re hoping that wouldn’t be the case here. If production does wrap up by December, perhaps Shonda Rhimes will be feeling extra generous and give us season three by 2023.
Also, it’s hard to sit still and wait when the cast constantly drops teasers and behind-the-scenes photos.