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    "Bridgerton" Season 3 Is Getting Closer Every Day, So Here's Everything We Know

    More Kate Sharma, or I will cause a scene.

    Evelina Zaragoza Medina
    by Evelina Zaragoza Medina

    BuzzFeed Staff

    The wait has been agonizing, but Bridgerton is indeed coming back for a third season.

    Netflix

    It's been a year and a half, but I still need to fan myself at the sight of Kate and Anthony.

    There's no official release date yet, but here's everything we know about the new season so far:

    1. Many fans (LIKE ME) hoped that Season 3 would premiere in 2023, but there's a strong possibility that we won't see it until 2024.

    Netflix

    There hasn't been an official announcement from Netflix, but Adjoa Andoh (Lady Danbury) recently told Digital Spy that Season 3 "will be coming out next year" even though it's been finished for a while. That's not what any of us want to hear, but let's hope it's very early 2024.

    Whenever Lady Whistledown takes pity on us and announces the official date of her return, we'll update you here.

    2. Kate and Anthony will be back.

    Netflix / Courtesy Everett Collection

    Personally, nothing is more important to me than #Kanthony. Thankfully, Simone Ashley and Jonathan Bailey have both confirmed they are returning for the third season. Jonathan has said he plans to be at every Bridgerton sibling's wedding, and Simone wants Season 3 to show Kate's adjustment to being the new viscountess. One thing they both agree on: They want Kate and Anthony to have their first baby! 

    More recently, Simone has said that we'll see a more "sweet, endearing, and light" side of Kate and Anthony's relationship after all the drama of Season 2, and that Kate will be "quite content" with her husband. Apropos of nothing, she also said she thinks Season 3 will be "hotter than ever." Excuse me?????

    3. But Daphne won't be — despite having her second baby offscreen.

    Netflix / Courtesy Everett Collection

    Showrunner Jess Brownell said back in May 2022 that we would keep seeing Daphne in the third season, but didn't reveal how much screen time she'd have. 

    HOWEVER, it seems like that's not the case! Phoebe Dynevor, the actor behind the Duchess of Hastings, recently said that we should not expect to see much of Daphne in Season 3. "I did my two seasons,” she told Variety. "I’ve done what I wanted to do with that character and she had a great arc. If they ask me back in the future who knows." 

    As much as the show's audience (like me 😢) will miss her, she does have a point! Daphne's arc is pretty complete, and Phoebe has a lot of exciting projects coming up that might keep her too busy to stand in the background of multiple Bridgerton scenes, holding a baby and explaining why Simon isn't there. Hopefully the show can bring her back with an exciting storyline!

    As for that second baby, it does indeed seem like the Duke and Duchess have welcomed their second child in between seasons! In the Bridgerton spin-off Queen Charlotte, Lady Violet is shown playing with two babies in the very first episode. One of them is clearly little Auggie who we met in Season 2, but who is the second one? You might assume that it's Kate and Anthony's first child, but Violet confirms that those two are still off on their six-month honeymoon. Therefore, that can only be Hastings-Bridgerton baby #2. 

    4. Mainly, Season 3 is going to focus on the relationship between Colin Bridgerton and Penelope Featherington, and it will be based on Romancing Mr. Bridgerton by Julia Quinn.

    Bridgerton @bridgerton

    Mr. Colin Bridgerton, perhaps your eyes are giving away what your lips are too scared to say.

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    Twitter: @bridgerton

    Penelope has been pining after this man since the show's very first episode, so it'll be a relief to see her patience (and ours) pay off. And sorry to anyone who disagrees, but Colin's long lingering glances in Penelope's direction are NOT entirely platonic. They're just not!

    5. We FINALLY got our first photos of the new season, and we know that Penelope is going to start off giving up her crush on Colin Bridgerton...and looking like a goddess while she's at it.

    Courtesy of Netflix

    Plus, she'll be focused on "finding a husband who will respect her independence" so she can keep being Lady Whistledown and get away from her family.

    But clearly, if this picture is anything to go by, it won't be long before those pesky feelings for Colin come up again. Friends-to-lovers, here we go!

    6. Yep, Penelope got a little bit of a makeover. Goodbye yellow dresses! Hello soothing, sage-y green!

    Courtesy of Netflix

    Nicola Coughlan had previously teased that we might see Penelope in a new color palette and that her dresses would be cut differently. And she did not lie! I'll always have a soft spot for the iconic Penelope yellow, but you can't deny that this new look and hairstyle are simply stunning. 

    7. As for Colin, he'll be disappointed to find that Penelope is giving him the cold shoulder when he returns from his travels.

    Courtesy of Netflix

    Which he'll DESERVE after what he said about her at the end of Season 2. In order to win back her friendship, Colin will make the incredibly questionable decision to help Pen "boost her confidence" so she can attract "the perfect husband." The perfect husband is YOU, dummy.

    Can we also get a little commotion for Colin's new, tousled hair?? Very dashing.

    8. You'll be happy to know that the show is ignoring any references from the book that allude to Penelope losing weight.

    Courtesy of Netflix

    Which is great, because implying that Penelope could only get Colin's attention after losing weight is stupid, inaccurate, and boring.

    9. But you'll be even happier to know Nicola Coughlan said that the season will otherwise stay very true to the book, and you should expect to see ~certain~ iconic scenes.

    Her words exactly: "It's a spicy one. It's a lot of the stuff from the books that the fans expect has made it into the show."

    We certainly can't take that as confirmation of anything specific, but maybe a scene involving a carriage? Perhaps a mirror? You didn't hear it from me.

    10. Adjoa Andoh teased that we can expect Lady Danbury's backstory, which we saw in Queen Charlotte, to "absolutely inform what we see onscreen in Season 3."

    Liam Daniel / Netflix

    "There's always a wider expanse of who the characters are that will certainly be true for Lady Danbury, a more complex leaning into what their history is," she told Digital Spy.

    11. The new season will also see the fallout of ~a certain revelation~ between Lady Danbury and Lady Violet, and could even see Violet find a romance of her own after the events of Queen Charlotte.

    Netflix / Courtesy Everett Collection

    At the end of Queen Charlotte, Violet found out that her friend Agatha AKA Lady Danbury had had an affair with her father after Lord Danbury died. However, Violet's mother— not a nice woman at all — was very much alive at the time, meaning that Violet just learned that her dad cheated on her mom with her close friend. I don't see this breaking the friendship between the ton's matchmaking duo, but things could be a bit awkward between them for a while.

    On a more hopeful note, throughout Queen Charlotte it seemed like Violet might be open to finding a ~male companion~ again after more than a decade of mourning her husband Edmund. To quote the Dowager Vicountess, her garden is in bloom and needs tending!

    12. Not that you needed a reminder, but Penelope is literally Lady Whistledown, and it seems unlikely that a few more people won't learn her secret during a season that focuses on her.

    Netflix

    I certainly expect Colin to find out, at least.

    13. The focus on Colin and Penelope means that the show is officially no longer following the order of the books.

    Netflix / Courtesy Everett Collection

    The third book in the Bridgerton series is An Offer from a Gentleman, which centers Benedict. Romancing Mr. Brigerton is the fourth book. 

    14. The plan, according to Shonda Rhimes, is for the show to get to each sibling's love story and have eight seasons, so there's no need to worry about Benedict, Eloise, or any of the other Bridgertons.

    Netflix

    15. Even though he won't be the romantic lead in Season 3, Benedict will still be important.

    Netflix / Courtesy Everett Collection

    Jess Brownell said that even though the show isn't getting to his love story just yet, Benedict will still be "a vital part of Season 3." I can only hope this means we'll get more scenes of Benedict being high on tea.

    16. Penelope and Eloise will address their big fight at the end of Season 2 at some point.

    Netflix / Courtesy Everett Collection

    It doesn't seem like it'll be a quick resolution, though, since Eloise will have found "a new friend in a very unlikely place." It pains me to think to these two besties at odds with each other, but I'm curious to see what Eloise will do now that she knows Penelope is Lady Whistledown. 

    17. Filming started in July 2022 and wrapped in mid-March 2023.

    Bridgerton @bridgerton

    I spy the makings of a new social season. By the looks of things, it would seem the third installment of Bridgerton is officially underway.

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    Twitter: @bridgerton / Via Twitter: @bridgerton

    18. The show's release may have been impacted by the SAG-AFTRA strike, because the cast wasn't able to promote the new season.

    Netflix / courtesy Everett Collection

    The WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes started after Season 3 had already completed filming, but that doesn't mean that Bridgerton wasn't affected. Since each season focuses on a different couple, Netflix might have chosen to wait until the actors could do a press tour to drum up excitement — under strike rules, actors couldn't promote work for struck companies (which includes Netflix). 

    We can't be sure if that's the reason Season 3 has taken so long, but now that the actors and writers got their fair deal it's no longer an obstacle.

    19. We have a new Francesca Bridgerton!

    Netflix/Courtesy Everett Collection / Getty Images

    Hannah Dodd has joined the cast as Francesca Bridgerton, replacing Ruby Stokes.

    Incidentally, Fracesca is the next Bridgerton daughter scheduled to have her debut in society — she's only a year younger than Eloise. It's very possible that her presentation will be a plot point in Season 3, especially considering that the plot of When He Was Wicked (Francesca's story in the books) requires a little bit of buildup. We got our first look at Hannah in character with the rest of the Bridgertons (including the newly minted Viscountess Kate!) in these unofficial photos from the set.

    20. One character we shouldn't expect to see again is Marina Crane, played by Ruby Barker in the first two seasons.

    Courtesy of Netflix

    Marina was pretty much a lead character in Season 1, and Ruby reprised her role in Episode 4 of the second season. Ruby has spoken extensively about the mental health challenges she dealt with while working on the show, and said that it "wouldn't be [her] choice" to return. Ruby currently works with Wellbeing in the Arts and MIND, two mental health organizations in the UK, in addition to her acting roles.

    Ruby's decision is even more understandable and commendable considering the fact that Marina's arc in the books centers around her deteriorating mental health during her marriage to Sir Phillip. Personally, I hope the show is able to avoid that storyline altogether whether or not Marina appears onscreen. 

    21. Butt the show has cast a few new supporting characters, starting with Daniel Francis as Marcus Anderson, a "charismatic presence who lights up any room he enters."

    Amanda Edwards / Getty Images

    He'll be "attracting the notice of certain matriarchs in the town — and the ire of others." Could he be a new love interest for one of the dowagers? 

    22. Sam Philips will be playing Lord Debling, a lord with "eccentric interests (and enough wealth for anyone to overlook them)."

    Gregg Deguire / Getty Images

    23. James Phoon will appear as Harry Dankworth, a man who isn't smart, but makes up for it with "serious good looks."

    24. And Hannah New will play "firebrand widow" Lady Tilley Arnold.

    Todd Williamson / Getty Images

    Per Deadline, Lady Arnold is a young widow who "enjoys the privileges and power that come with being at the helm of her former husband’s estate, living life on her own terms with financial independence and sexual freedom." Titillating!

    25. Finally, Regé-Jean Page will NOT be returning to the show, despite initial rumors to the contrary. He even said that the show is "free to do as they like" with regards to recasting his role.

    Netflix

    DAMMIT.