Why Bridgerton sex scenes are so realistic

Bridgerton star Jonathon Bailey has opened up on the unlikely props used by actors to create realistic sex scenes in the steamy Netflix TV series.

While season one of Bridgerton followed the fourth Bridgerton child, Daphne (played by Phoebe Dynevor), season two sees the family’s eldest child Viscount Anthony Bridgerton in the spotlight.

Actor Jonathan Bailey, who portrays Anthony, recently did the media rounds in the lead up to the season two drop, and shared a few interesting nuggets of information about those sex scenes in the process.

Florence Emilia Hunt as Hyacinth Bridgerton, Ruth Gemmell as Lady Violet Bridgerton, Luke Newton as Colin Bridgerton, Jonathan Bailey as Anthony Bridgerton and Luke Thompson as Benedict Bridgerton in Bridgerton. Picture: Liam Daniel/Netflix

Bridgerton has always hired intimacy co-ordinator Lizzy Talbot to help manage the sex scenes and ensure that all actors were comfortable with how the scenes played out.

In a recent interview with the Radio Times, Bailey said that Talbot brought a surprising new prop this year to help create a barrier between the sheets. “It’s amazing how that whole industry has just come on, even in a year,” Bailey shared. “There are new tricks to the trade – little cushions – and it’s amazing what you can do with a half-inflated netball.”

“If there are two people doing a sex scene, the rule is they must have three barriers separating them and there are certain acts where a half-inflated netball can allow for movement without having to connect physically,” Bailey explained. “It’s pretty silly really and we have some hilarious moments, but it makes it less awkward.”

In any given sex scene, there are actually three in the bed: two actors and a half-inflated netball. Picture: Netflix/Bridgerton

Of course, anyone who saw season one of the show knows that Bridgerton sex scenes are usually a marathon, not a sprint, which was particularly evident during a three-minute long montage scene of newlyweds Daphne and Simon (played by Regé-Jean Page), depicting a days-long sex romp on his estate.

Speaking to Insider, Talbot said that this scene “was a bit of an intimacy circus.”

“There’s so much going on there. We were in loads of different locations all over the country. We were inside, outside, up ladders; we were everywhere,” she continued. “We were working in the dry and in the rain, on flagstone floors and up against walls and in Regency beds.”

Actor Jonathan Bailey has his very own Mr. Darcy moment in Bridgerton season two. Picture: Netflix/Bridgerton

Talbot’s favourite scene? The one where Simon performs oral sex on Daphne in his estate’s library; turns out, this was actually shot at a private members’ club in London.

“[It was] super cheeky because women weren’t allowed in [the club] until 1980 and we’re busting in and the first thing we’re doing is a scene of oral pleasure.”

This story originally appeared in Body + Soul and has been reproduced with permission.