Meet The New Characters Making Their Society Debut In 'Bridgerton' Season 4
If you binged the the third season of Bridgerton as soon as it debuted on Netflix in May 2024, then fear not, for a fourth season of the much-loved Regency drama is in the works and comfortably underway.
In April 2021, Netflix confirmed that the series was renewed for both a third and fourth season, and it's been a while in the making. In May 2024, Bridgerton's showrunner Jess Brownell confirmed to Refinery29 that the series' team of writers were 'in the middle of writing it [season four] right now.'
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In the intervening months, even more has been unveiled about the fourth season. From the cast to the plot and everything in-between, this is everything you need to know about Bridgerton season four.
Who will Bridgerton season four be about?
Season three was (confusingly) based on Romancing Mr. Bridgerton, the fourth of Quinns' books, and focussed on Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan)’s secret crush on her best friend Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton) and her quest for a husband, which left fans questioning which of Quinns' books the fourth season could draw inspiration from.
Season four will be based on Julia Quinn's third book in the series, An Offer from a Gentleman, which tells the story of Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson). 'Despite his elder and younger brothers both being happily married, Benedict is loath to settle down. That is, until an enthralling woman captures Benedict’s attention at Violet Bridgerton’s (Ruth Gemmell) masquerade ball. While Benedict knows his love interest as only the Lady in Silver, she’s actually Sophie Baek (Yerin Ha), a resourceful maid with her own secrets and dreams,' the official Netflix logline reads.
'The storyline is a bit of a twist on Cinderella. You remember being told those stories as a child — the magic and the romance of them. It’s really exciting to have that weaved into the world that we know of Bridgerton … It’s such a great story, but it’s also, I hope, really relatable,' Thompson told Tudum.
Fans were also quick to guess that Benedict's story may be the focus of the fourth season even before the streaming service confirmed the news. In May 2024, Bridgerton wig artist Grace Gorman shared a photo of Lady Cowper on Instagram, and wrote in the caption that the character’s first name was Araminta, the same name of the stepmother of Benedict’s love interest, Sophie Beckett, in the books. Noting the post, fans of the series promptly flocked to X where they shared their anticipation of Benedict's love story finally entering the fray. 'OMG!!! I think we are going to see Sophie soon enough,' commented one user.
On June 3, Coughlan, however, seemed quick to shut down that theory. After she posted a photograph of her and Newton in hair and make-up, fans were quick to notice that a mirror in the background had a Post-It taped to it, which read 'Sophie.' It didn't take long before fans flocked to Reddit, to wonder if the note was 'another sign' for season four.
But while her character’s alter ego may enjoy stirring the pot, Coughlan was quick to shut down the implication that she’d accidentally spoiled the upcoming fourth season. 'lolll no that’s @sophie.burton.33’s makeup station!!' she replied to one user's comment, tagging a Bridgerton makeup artist called Sophie.
Fans have also surmised that, after Jessica Madsen, who plays Cressida Cowper, posted a string of pictures in honour of Pride month with caption admitting she's 'in love with a woman', a queer storyline may well be a part of the fourth season. Joanna Bobin, who plays Madsen's on-screen mother Lady Cowper, wrote: 'Go baby girl! Love you', while Hannah Dodd, who plays Francesca Bridgerton, added: 'Love youuuuuu' along with a yellow heart emoji.
Brownell has previously admitted that she's keen to incorporate more queer storylines in the show. '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 Pride. '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.'
The incorporation of a queer storyline in the fourth season was almost certainly confirmed in the season three finale, when Francesca Bridgerton (Hannah Dodd) was introduced to her husband's cousin Michaela Stirling (Masali Baduza) and appeared to forget her own name. The moment was a nod to a conversation Francesca had had with her mother earlier in the season, who described the shock of love at first sight: 'When I first met your father, I could barely speak my own name. I was so taken by him. I stumbled over words most familiar.'
For the uninitiated, in the books, the second-born Bridgerton daughter falls in love with her husband’s cousin Michael after she is widowed, but the introduction of Michaela confirmed that the character has been reimagined as a woman for the upcoming season.
In the sixth Bridgerton novel, When He Was Wicked, Michael Stirling is a 19th-century playboy and bachelor who becomes the new Earl of Kilmartin when John Stirling (Victor Alli), Francesca's husband, unexpectedly dies, due to a brain injury. John’s death occurs only two years into his marriage with Francesca, so the young widow turns to Michael for comfort, as the two had already formed a close friendship prior to John’s passing. What Francesca is unaware of in the books is that Michael has, in fact, held a flame for her since the first time they met.
'When I first read When He Was Wicked in the lead-up to season one, I really related to it as a queer woman,' Brownell told Entertainment Weekly in June 2024. 'There’s some themes in that book about Francesca feeling different. Julia Quinn just means it in terms of her being an introvert. But for a lot of us in the queer community, that sense of feeling different from a young age is a part of our stories. So, I felt like there was good thematic resonance telling a queer story with Francesca.'
She further added that in the fourth season of Bridgerton, we can expect for a love story of sorts between Francesca and Michaela to develop. 'I can’t say in what capacity, just in terms of not tipping my hand of where we’re going. But there is going to be a relationship between Michaela and Fran, as per the books,' she confirmed.
Who will star in Bridgerton season four?
Thompson and Ha will both star in the fourth season, as will Coughlan and Newton.
In March 2025, Simone Ashley, who plays Kate Sharma, also confirmed that she will appear in the fourth season. 'I was filming yesterday, actually. It was so nostalgic. We were in the Bridgerton house, and it's wild because life has moved on, but the place stays the same. It's been five, six years since the show started. I've been on it since 2022. So what, three years? But stepping back in feels like no time has passed,' she told WhoWhatWear.
There will be some new additions to the cast too in the form of sisters Rosamund Li (Michelle Mao) and Posy Li (Isabella Wei), and Eloise's younger sister Hyacinth (Florence Hunt), with the four convening in the fourth season's opening episode at Bridgerton House. Their Li debutantes' mother, Araminta Gun (Katie Leung), has raised them to be perfect debutantes, Brownell confirmed to Tudum.
When will Bridgerton season four be released?
While no dates have been released as yet, Brownell told The Hollywood Reporter at the June 2024 premiere of the second part of season three that it will be two years before the beloved series' fourth season premieres.
'We are working to try and put the seasons out more quickly, but they do take eight months to film, then they have to be edited, then they have to be dubbed into every language,' Brownell told the outlet.
'And the writing takes a very long time as well, so we’re kind of on a two-year pace,' she added. 'We’re trying to speed up but somewhere in that range.'
But fans of the show should feel encouraged by the showrunner's assurance that the fourth season is some of her 'best work' yet.
'I’m really excited about what we’re writing. We’re towards the end with the writers' room season, with the scripts. And I feel like it’s some of my best work and my writers' room’s best work,' she said. 'We’ve just really gelled our collaboration, and we’re firing on all cylinders, so I can’t wait for fans to see what we have.'
Is there a trailer for Bridgerton season four?
We're still waiting on a trailer for Bridgerton's fourth season but will update this piece as soon as we receive more information.
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