‘Most scandalous season yet’: First Bridgerton photos released

The first look at Penelope and Colin is finally here!

Bridgerton fans have barely recovered from Queen Charlotte’s heartbreaking ending, but now it’s time to switch gears back to swooning.

Netflix has dropped the first look pictures from the upcoming fourth season of its Regency-era, candy-laced romantic drama.

The images were released as part of the festivities of Netflix’s Tudum fan event, the first time the convention was held in-person after initially launching as a virtual gathering during Covid. The live event was held in Sao Paulo, Brazil where 15,000 fans gathered for the global shows while an estimated 50,000 people will stream through the three-day festival.

Each season focuses on a different couple and the third season will pivot to the will-they-won’t-they affair of Penelope (Nicola Coughlan) and Colin (Luke Newton).

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Coughlan promised news.com.au the third season will be scandal-filled.

She said, “Lady Whistledown is right at the centre, having to deal with all her little secrets and it gets harder and harder for things to come out and there are scandalous love affairs popping up all over the place.

“Most scandalous one yet, I would say.”

Your first look at Penelope and Colin in Bridgerton Season 3 has arrived. #TUDUM pic.twitter.com/uGP25bKwFu

— Netflix (@netflix) June 17, 2023

Penelope, of course, was revealed at the end of the first season (spoiler alert) to be gossip girl Lady Whistledown herself. So, it’ll take some narrative imagination to work out how she’ll be reporting on her own courtship to the wagging tongues of The Ton.

And Colin is the third Bridgerton son and long-time friend of Penelope, who despite her fervent wishes, has never quite realised his buddy is a romantic prospect.

There’s also the added complication that Penelope’s best friend Eloise (Claudia Jessie) is Colin’s sister. Eloise did not take too kindly to her discovery at the end of the second season that Penelope has been deceiving her for years with her secret nom de plume – especially as Lady Whistledown’s columns became more and more acidic.

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Bridgerton season 3 focuses on Penelope and Colin. Photo: Netflix

And Coughlan flagged the upcoming season will be as hot as the previous two, which gained a reputation for its many sex scenes.

“Expect more, I think it’s extremely spicy,” she said.

Friends struggle to film sex scenes in Bridgerton

She also revealed how uncomfortable it was to film those scenes with Newton, her co-star and friend. She added, “It was terrifying, I won’t lie. I was so intimidated by the thought of it but doing it with a friend was really, really great because it gave me that level of comfort but then also made it more scary to begin with because if you have film a kiss with your friend.”

“You literally have to have a practice kiss, under supervision, there was someone there, we had to do that before shooting any of the scenes and that was quite terrifying but in the end, it made it way better.”

In the wisteria-covered world of Bridgerton, dramatic showdowns are as guaranteed as an empire waistline.

Bridgerton, adapted from Julia Quinn’s novels, premiered in December 2020 and was an instant hit.

The first season clocked up 625 million hours of viewership in the first four weeks while the second did 656 million hours. A prequel spin-off, Queen Charlotte, was released was released in May.

The Bridgerton universe of shows was developed as part of mega-producer Shonda Rhimes’ overall deal at Netflix.

A release date has not been confirmed for the third season.

The writer travelled to Sao Paulo, Brazil as a guest of Netflix.

 

Originally published as ‘Most scandalous season yet’: First Bridgerton photos released