Warning: Bridgerton (season 4 and book) spoilers ahead.
Dear Reader, the next season of Bridgerton promises to be a gay one indeed.
Netflix announced Tuesday that season 5 of the hit Shondaland show, which rotates the siblings of a high-society London family as leads, will focus on Francesca Bridgerton.
Played by Hannah Dodd, Francesca is the sixth and most introverted Bridgerton sibling, who had previously married Lord John Stirling (Victor Alli) in season 3. Her inability to reach a "pinnacle," or sexual climax, was a plotline of season 4, which ended with Stirling's surprise death and Francesca widowed.
In a new teaser clip released by Netflix, Francesca is seen in the company of Michaela Stirling (Masali Baduza), her dead husband's cousin, in Scotland, which is where the Stirling family had lived before they had traveled back to London. They went there for "the season" — the height of social activity and matchmaking for British society, where Bridgerton (and gossip columnist Lady Whistledown) has historically found its main material.
A Netflix rep informed Out that Scotland will be a major setting for season 5. The rep also shared that queering Francesca — whose character did not have this identity in Julia Quinn's Bridgerton novels — was a creative choice made by out showrunner Jess Brownell. (In the books, Michaela's character was a man named Michael.)
"It's hugely important to me to be able to tell queer stories in Bridgerton,” out showrunner Jess Brownell told Out prior to the release of season 4, which focused on the Bridgerton brother Benedict, a character who is sexually fluid but whose same-sex romances were mostly sidelined.
“I feel like Bridgerton made its name in many ways on being an inclusive universe, and for queer stories to be left out of that would not feel right,” Brownell added. “So, to be getting to tell Benedict and Francesca's stories over the next couple of seasons is really thrilling.”
Dodd had previously told Deadline that either Francesca or her sister Eloise would center the next season; expect the latter to headline season 6.
Michaela Stirling (Masali Baduza) and Francesca Bridgerton (Hannah Dodd)Netflix
The actress who portrays Francesca also addressed the possibility of same-sex romance during that season 4 junket. “It's tricky with Francesca's story because we don't know what our writers are going to do,” Dodd told Out. “The series is based on a series of books, and so people who have read the books have an idea of what might happen.”
“We've had our writers really change things up. I never want to confirm or deny anything because I don’t [know],” she added. “But if that does ever happen, I'd be really, really grateful and honored to tell that story.”
“We've just dipped our toe into that relationship, so I think it needs a little more time to breathe, but when Michaela does show up, she's someone who brings with her quite a lot of chaos,” Brownell said. “And I think for better or worse, she'll shake up the dynamics between Fran and John.”
