'F*ck you' body shamers: Bridgerton's Nicola Coughlan pushed for more nudity in season 3

The star of the hit Netflix series said that the scene in question was her idea and her choice. Slay, girl!

Nicola Coughlan claps back at body shamers in season 3 of Bridgerton. Source: Netflix

Dearest readers, Nicola Coughlan, aka Penelope Featherington, has much to say about her character for the third season of Bridgerton.

Despite putting in a request to make a less steamy version of her sex scenes for her parents (because, awks), the star of the much-loved Netflix drama series reportedly requested to be "very naked" in a particular scene.

It is not because she no longer cares what her parents see, but rather a clap-back at online critics who have disparaged her weight. 

"There’s one scene where I’m very naked on camera, and that was my idea, my choice. It just felt like the biggest ‘f*ck you’ to all the conversation surrounding my body; it was amazingly empowering," she tells Stylist.  

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Penelope Featherington and Colin Bridgerton's first kiss and Nicola Coughlan photoshoot for Stylist. Source: Netflix, Stylist

RELATED: Nicola Coughlan's sex scene rule put in contract

Fans celebrated Nicola's 'F*ck you' moment

One fan was so moved by Nicola's newfound confidence that she posted the above quote and picture to X. The comments section exploded with praise for Nicola. 

“Ugh, she makes me want to be more confident in myself. I love her an unexplainable amount,” one person replied.

“YES QUEEN!!!!! Body positivity is so important. Go, Nicola, for leading the path for curvy and/or +size women to not be ashamed of their beautiful body and show it in a sexy way instead of the cliché comedic way,” somebody else tweeted.

“As someone who has been a ‘bigger girl’ their entire life, to see someone who represents ME as the leading lady for honestly the first time in my 34 years, is very emotional for me,” one more added. “I love Nicola immensely, and I cannot wait to see Penelope get her time to shine.”

Reacting to the response to their tweet, the OP later wrote: “Nicola Coughlan, I hope you realise how inspiring you are to a lot of people.”

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Nicola added unique touches to her intimate scenes

For season 3, Nicola collaborated closely with the show’s intimacy coordinator, Lizzy Talbot. She took proactive control over her character's intimate moments, determining what was shown and adding her unique touches.

Nicola shared: “You go, OK, what do I want to show? What don’t I want to show? What’s scripted, and what do I want to add?”

“I felt beautiful in the moment, and I thought: ‘When I’m 80, I want to look back on this and remember how fucking hot I looked!’” she concluded.

The actress has previously addressed the challenges of public scrutiny concerning her appearance. In 2022, she made a plea on Instagram, urging people to keep their opinions about her body to themselves, stating the difficulty of facing a barrage of unsolicited judgments daily.

She wrote in the post (now deleted): “If you have an opinion about my body, please, please don’t share it with me... It’s really hard to take the weight of thousands of opinions on how you look being sent directly to you every day.”

“All I care about is the work. Bodies change; if I lose weight or gain weight or I do anything, it’s no one’s business; all I care about is doing good acting and being judged on that,” she added to the Irish Times. 

RELATED: Bridgerton producers issue a ban for cast members

Penelope and Colin get steamy this season

Nicola, who, spoiler alert, is Lady Whistledown, recently talked about the liberating experience of filming intimate scenes alongside co-star Luke Newton in the show's third season. 

According to the LA Times, Coughlan had a sense of ease and camaraderie after shooting the scenes, saying: "By the end of the day, we were both lying under a blanket, not clothed, just chillin’. We were like, ‘This is why nudists do it.’"

Has their comfort on set spilled over into real life? While rumours are swirling that the two are more than just co-stars, Nicola shuts them down, saying, "We think it’s really sweet. I think because we truly love each other.”

“He is an exceptional person in my life, and I got to do this experience with him. I’ll never get to do something like this again, on this scale… It’s so nice having such a lovely friend that I can do all this with.”

 Bridgerton Season 3, Part 1 is now available to stream on Netflix.

Originally published as 'F*ck you' body shamers: Bridgerton's Nicola Coughlan pushed for more nudity in season 3