Welcome to your happy place of Bridgerton knowledge, complete with answers to all of your burning questions about the third season. Which Bridgerton sibling will be taking centre stage? Will our new favorite lady, Kate Sharma (Simone Ashley), be returning after her stunning debut into society? More importantly, will she bring her corgi, Newton? Much like Lady Whistledown, we've got all the goss. Here's what you need to know.
WATCH: First Look At 'Bridgerton' Season 3
Will Kate and Anthony be in Season 3?
When the second season premiered, many die-hard book fans were upset because Kate and Anthony (played by the dashing Jonathan Bailey) were somewhat robbed of their romantic storyline in The Viscount Who Loved Me.
While we got all of the delicious squabbling, tension and build-up to their romance, many were left reeling by the lack of steamy scenes in the show. And the fact that Edwina (played by Charithra Chandran) had been brought further into the messy love triangle in the show, when she was pretty chill and unbothered in the book.
But there's plenty of time for Anthony, Kate and Edwina's happier moments to play out on screen, with Simone confirming their return in season three - saying they're "just getting started."
"We're going to be back! Kate and Anthony are just getting started," the actress tells Deadline, much to our delight.
"We have the amazing Jess Brownell who is taking the lead as showrunner in Season 3," she continued. "In Season 2, there was a lot of push and pull between Kate and Anthony, there were complications with the family, and then they find each other towards the end. I think everything is just starting."
"She's in charge of the household now and she's got big boots to put on. I think she can do it," she shared. "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."
With that question happily answered, we can focus on all the other need-to-know details about the third season.
Which Bridgerton sibling is Season 3 about?
As we all know by now, the series is based on the novels by Julia Quinn - with the third book focusing on Benedict Bridgerton (who is played by Luke Thompson).
Fans fell even more in love with Benedict in Season 2, especially when he was drinking his special tea. So, will we get to see his love story play out next time?
It seems unlikely since the series creator Shonda Rhimes and showrunner Jess Brownwell have revealed Colin Bridgerton's (Luke Newton) and Penelope Featherington's (Nicola Coughlan) love stories will be next - and we don't see them combining, since there will be eight seasons to match the eight siblings.
"There are eight Bridgerton siblings, so we're planning on following each one of the siblings' romantic stories," Shonda told Entertainment Tonight of the next season. "We're not necessarily going in order, but we will be seeing each of the siblings and their stories."
"[We] got a little bit creative so we're already hard at work writing season 3. That is already in progress and you'll see. Give it time," she adds.
"I really feel like it’s Colin and Penelope’s time," Jess adds in a new interview with Variety. "Because we’ve been watching both of these actors on our screens since Season 1, we’ve already invested in them a little bit. We know who they are as people.
"I feel like, especially in the last season, there are these moments of tension between them where it’s like, Colin walks up to the line of almost realizing that Penelope has feelings for him but doesn’t quite get there. Instead of treading water on that dynamic, we wanted to push it into their season. It really felt like the perfect moment to tee it up."
It's likely Benedict's own romance will predominantly happen in the fourth season, though it may be intertwined with other stories like that of Eloise Bridgerton (Claudia Jessie) and the new character, Theo Sharpe (Calam Lynch).
What happens in Colin Bridgerton's love story in the book?
Since POLIN will be the reigning love story of the third season, it just makes sense that we would divulge some juicy details around how their relationship unfolds. If you don't want any more book spoilers, skip this next part.
Because the show-runners appeared to have planned this change in order, they wove elements of the later books into the second season to set the stage for a POLIN love story.
In the second season, Penelope overheard Colin saying he could never be interested in her romantically (which actually happens in the third book and she snaps back at him tremendously) and her identity as Lady Whistledown was discovered by Eloise Bridgerton (the fourth book is actually the first time we find out about her secret identity as the scandalous author).
In the novel, Romancing Mister Bridgerton, Colin and Penelope "don't get together for another 10 years". Which makes sense, considering at this point in the show she is just 18 and he is 23. However, it seems they'll be younger when they finally become involved in the series.
Book POLIN actually begin their romantic relationship a decade later when she is 28 and now considered to be entering "spinster" territory due to her age. The Regency Era was not kind to women, duh.
When Colin returns from his travels in Greece, he begins to look at Penelope differently. He already returned from Greece in the second season, so we've been set up there.
After sharing a risqué moment at a ball, Colin attempts to find Penelope and apologise for his very un-gentlemanly ways when he discovers her heading to the "bad part of town." You know, where she regularly travels to print her paper as Whistledown. Upon his realisation, Colin picks a huge fight with Pen before proposing... for some reason.
On ITV's This Morning viewers were given inside access to the Season 3 set. And we were lucky enough to get a sneak peek at Colin and Penelope's new looks!
How will Season 3 of Bridgerton be different to the book?
Shonda has confirmed there will be some changes, because at this stage Penelope isn't actually a "spinster" and is still out on the marriage mart. But one key feature remains: Colin will finally be the one pining for Penelope after years of her being obsessed with him.
“Colin doesn’t see what is right in front of his eyes,” Luke tells TVLine of his character. “He’s got this amazing connection with this young woman, but his judgment is so clouded about feeling like he has to be a man and find his purpose, that he’s put her in the friend zone. He’s ticked off his ambition, which was traveling, and now he’s trying to figure out what’s next. Everyone else has things going on, and he’s distracted by ambition. It’s really hard to defend Colin because there are moments where even I’m like ‘Bro, you’re just being a d–k right now.'”
According to the synopsis shared by Netflix, Colin will be offering Penelope lessons in courtship when his feelings of friendship turn to something more.
"Penelope has finally given up on her long-held crush on Colin after hearing his disparaging words about her last season," the synopsis reads.
"She has, however, decided it’s time to take a husband, preferably one who will provide her with enough independence to continue her double life as Lady Whistledown, far away from her mother and sisters. But lacking in confidence, Penelope’s attempts on the marriage mart fail spectacularly.
"Meanwhile, Colin has returned from his summer travels with a new look and a serious sense of swagger. But he’s disheartened to realize that Penelope, the one person who always appreciated him as he was, is giving him the cold shoulder.
"Eager to win back her friendship, Colin offers to mentor Penelope in the ways of confidence to help her find a husband this season. But when his lessons start working a little too well, Colin must grapple with whether his feelings for Penelope are truly just friendly.
"Complicating matters for Penelope is her rift with Eloise (Claudia Jessie), who has found a new friend in a very unlikely place, while Penelope’s growing presence in the ton makes it all the more difficult to keep her Lady Whistledown alter ego a secret."
What happens in Benedict Bridgerton's love story?
If you're keen for a little insight to the love life of this artsy man with a penchant for hallucinogenic tea, his novel is called An Offer From a Gentleman and follows his relationship with Sophie Beckett. If you don't want any more book spoilers, skip this next part.
Julia Quinn went full "Cinderella" with this one, introducing readers to Sophie - the illegitimate daughter of an Earl, who was left to work as a servant for his wife and her daughters when he passed away.
She sneaks out of the house one night and attends a masquerade ball at Bridgerton's place, meeting Benedict and falling head over heels. Who wants to bet he has all the detective skills of Chad Michael Murray in A Cinderella Story when it comes to identifying her? If you know, you know.
Years pass and the pair finally cross paths again when Benedict visits her new workplace. Realising she's in a dodgy situation, he "rescues" her to come and work at his family home.
They fall for each other - duh - but due to that whole Regency-era society thing they're not considered a good match and can't tie the knot.
A good way of summing it up thereafter would be: chaos ensues, love triumphs, we love Benedict and Sophie. You can buy the book here.
When is the Bridgerton Season 3 release date?
We waited more than a year for the second season of Bridgerton, so let's assume we'll be waiting about the same time-length?
As we mentioned above, Shonda recently revealed the third season is "currently in the works" and so it will likely begin production in the UK this summer.
The first season began production in July 2019 and wrapped up in February 2020, before the series was released on December 25, 2020.
The second season faced greater challenges due to COVID-19 in London. Though they began production in March 2021, various shutdowns meant they didn't finish until November 2021. It was released on March 25, 2022.
Although we thought early 2023 would be the go for the third season, it seems like we might have to wait a *bit* longer.
According to a new report, Shonda wasn't happy with parts of the new season's plotline, deeming it "very dark."
"There are some elements that Shonda is just not happy with so wants to change them. Some of it got very dark," a source told MailOnline.
"We have been told that it needs the fun back so there are changes, which of course means delays. One thing is for sure though, the production team want to get it right for Bridgerton fans so they enjoy it as much as they have in the past."
In the meantime, there are plenty of other shows that can help cure your Bridgerton hangover.
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