Warning: This story contains spoilers for Season Three of “Bridgerton” as well as Julia Quinn’s “Bridgerton” books.
The Regency romantic hit “Bridgerton” delivered on one of fans' biggest hopes with the finale of Season Three — queer representation.
“Bridgerton” has seen secondary characters in the LGBTQ+ community, but until Season Three, the Bridgerton siblings all seemed to be pursuing heterosexual relationships, in line with the series written by Julia Quinn that started in 2000.
Season One introduced the character of Henry Granville, who welcomes second son Benedict Bridgerton into the art world. But their apparent flirtation seemingly led nowhere, with Benedict continuing a string of casual romances with women through the show’s first two seasons.
“Queen Charlotte,” the 2023 prequel series that follows Queen Charlotte’s love story with King George III, spotlighted her butler, Brimsley —as well as his relationship with George’s valet, Reynolds. Their love story increased fans hopes for a major queer storyline in “Bridgerton.”
But part two of “Bridgerton” Season Three, which hit Netflix June 13, has brought queer love closer to screens, seemingly confirming that not one, but two Bridgerton siblings will have queer romances down the line.
Are any of the Bridgerton siblings LGBTQ+?
The final two episodes of Season Three of “Bridgerton” introduced apparent queer romances for two characters —Benedict (Luke Thompson), who fans have long suspected to be part of the LGBTQ+ community, as well as Francesca (Hannah Dodd).
Benedict
Benedict strikes up a romance with Tilley Arnold (Hannah New) over the course of Season Three. Eventually, he sees her kissing her friend, Paul, and the two invite Benedict to have a threesome. After initially rejecting them, he returns and has his first on-screen kiss with a man.
They sleep together multiple times, and he reveals that he especially enjoys a “party of three.” When Tilley asks for a monogamous, settled relationship, Benedict turns her down, saying she “opened his world” and he doesn’t want it closed again.
In the books, Benedict ends up with a woman named Sophie, the illegitimate daughter of an earl raised like a maid by her stepmother. In true “Cinderella” style, they meet a masquerade ball, and she leaves before he learns her name. In the end, to overcome their notable class difference, they move to the countryside, away from society.
While Sophie (or a character with a Sophie-esque backstory) is not introduced in Season Three, the show hints at the beginning of Benedict’s book, with the character declaring that next season he will be at his mother’s masquerade ball, “hiding out behind a mask, avoiding eligible ladies like the plague.”
As Benedict has had on-screen relationships with men and women, it’s unclear if his love interest will be Sophie or perhaps a gender-swapped equivalent, which the TV adaptation has confirmed it's open to.
Francesca
Enter: Francesca Bridgerton.
Francesca, originally played by Ruby Stokes in Seasons One and Two, largely took a backseat at the start. But in Season Three, with Hannah Dodd taking over the role, the character steps into the spotlight as she makes her societal debut.
Francesca’s storyline remains true to the plot laid out by Quinn in the sixth "Bridgerton" book, “When He Was Wicked.” She meets John Stirling (played by Victor Alli in the show), a quiet, shy man who shares her love of music, and they decide to marry and move to Scotland in a gentle, companionable match.
In the books, Francesca is notably the only Bridgerton sibling to have two marriages. Her story starts with her husband John dying of a brain aneurysm just two years after they married. The true romance at the heart of “When He Was Wicked” is between Francesca and John’s cousin, Michael Stirling, who fell in love with Francesca at first sight and buried his feelings for the sake of his close relationship with John.
The character of Michael is where the book and TV adaptation seemingly diverge.
Francesca and John marry in Episode Eight in a simple ceremony at the Bridgerton family home. But when they share their first kiss, a chaste peck, she looks briefly disappointed, almost confused, before plastering back on a smile for her family.
At the end of the episode, the reason why is hinted at with the introduction of John’s cousin: Michaela Stirling.
When they meet, Francesca seems taken aback and is left quite literally speechless when Michaela asks for her name.
“Uh — I am — Well, I’m… Francesca. Bridgerton. Kilmartin. Kilmartin is my name now,” she stumbles out.
Will a queer relationship take the lead in Season 4?
The cast and crew of “Bridgerton” have remained mum on which Bridgerton sibling will lead Season Four.
Showrunner Jess Brownell previously told TODAY.com that the ending of Season Three leaves “clues” for fans to pore over.
“I think that there are some clues,” she said. “I don’t know that it’s completely obvious where we’re going. But there are definitely some clues for fans to pick over and theorize about.”
Brownell has also said that future seasons will “foreground queer love,” though she didn’t specify when.
“This is a show about love in its many forms and I think that it’s only right for us to foreground queer love and to tell queer stories,” Brownell told Pride. “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.”
“How exactly that plays out over this season and the next couple seasons, I can’t say specifically,” she added, “but I will say I’m excited for fans to see that.”
