Bridgerton’s executive producer Shonda Rhimes revealed that she has an idea for another spinoff series, this time focusing on the Bridgerton family matriarch Violet Bridgerton.
Dearest Members of the Ton, a new Bridgerton series might be on the horizon.
In fact, as Bridgerton’s executive producer Shonda Rhimes revealed, there have certainly been talks about a spinoff series following the success of 2023’s Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story.
“I think definitely,” Shonda shared with Craig Melvin on a recent episode of his Glass Half Full podcast. “That’s an area that we’re excited about and know that that could be really rich and really mined well.”
But who exactly would the potential spinoff focus on?
“I’ve always said that I thought if we were going to do something like that, Violet would be a great person to tell the story about—the Bridgerton mom,” Shonda shared. “Yeah, that’s a possibility.”
The story of the family’s matriarch Violet Bridgerton (Ruth Gemmell) is one that was explored more in season four of the Netflix series as she developed a relationship with Lord Marcus Anderson (Daniel Francis), the brother of her friend Lady Danbury (Adjoa Andoh), years after the death of her husband Edmund Bridgerton.
However, the relationship took a pause at the end of the season when Violet decided she wasn’t ready to marry Marcus. And as the showrunner Jess Brownell explained, saying yes to Marcus “would be like her marrying the first guy right after her husband.”
“I feel like she has more of a journey to go on,” Brownell said on an episode of Bridgerton: The Official Podcast, per Tudum. “She’s got some kids to see through, making sure that they get off on their way and debut before she’s ready to really do what she wants to really do. We’ll get there.”
As for Julia Quinn—who wrote the Bridgerton series on which the show is based—while she did publish the novella Violet in Bloom, which chronicles Violet’s life from childhood to meeting Edmund, his death and more, she hasn’t been ready to write a story beyond that. Especially because she knows the tragic fate that awaits Violet and Edmund.
“I can’t even begin to say how touched I am that so many readers want Violet to get her own (second) happy ending,” she wrote in the FAQ section of her website, “but I’m afraid I just don’t see writing her story.”
“I used to think it was because she was so devoted to Edmund, but after exploring the issue of second loves in When He Was Wicked, I realized that really wasn’t the reason,” she explained, name checking book six about Francesca Bridgerton. “I’ve thought about it a while, and in all honesty, I don’t think I could come up with anyone good enough for her. Seriously. I just adore her.”
While you wait on a potential Bridgerton spinoff, keep reading for all the shows you can watch this year when they hit the small screen.