Nicola Coughlan and Jake Dunn are taking their romance public!
In photos obtained by PEOPLE, the Bridgerton star, 37, and Dunn, 24, were spotted enjoying a cozy night out at an Irish bar in London. The duo were seen embracing each other as they strolled down the street.
Coughlan kept things casual in a mustard-colored cardigan and a black mini dress fashioned with black tights and matching loafers. Dunn, meanwhile, wore a white and maroon baseball tee and green cargo pants. He also accessorized his look with a blue hat and white tennis shoes.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(574x0:576x2):format(webp)/Nicola-Coughlan-jake-dunn-102424-2-46450d702acc4891b7f683b0f75729da.jpg)
Over the past few months, Coughlan and Dunn have sparked romance rumors after being spotted together on multiple occasions. Back in August, the two appeared happy together at the All Points East music festival in London.
When Bridgerton season 3 was released in May, fans of the Netflix period drama speculated that that Coughlan and her costar Luke Newton were romantically involved after they were seen holding hands at the show’s Australian launch event.
Despite the relationship buzz, a source close to the actors told PEOPLE that the two were “just friends.” The insider said that Coughlan and Newton were “supportive co-stars for each other,” but “they are not dating.”
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(881x465:883x467):format(webp)/Nicola-Coughlin-and-Luke-Newton-062723-01-97d58f1d61294b2e8dd33449b002550e.jpg)
The third installment of the Netflix hit centered around Coughlan’s Penelope Featherington and Newton’s Colin Bridgerton. Penelope, who’s long pinned for Colin, begins to take the marriage market seriously and leaves her fantasies of ending up with him behind. Colin eventually agrees to help her with her search, only to find himself with mixed feelings at the prospect of her marrying someone else.
“We would be like, in between scenes, and they were like, ‘Do you wanna get up and put your clothes on?’ We’re like, ‘We’ll just chill here.’ Like, in under the blankets,” Coughlan said of filming nude scenes during an interview on SiriusXM Hits 1 in April. “But then we have the advantage of knowing each other for years.”
In his own conversation with 7News Australia, Newton agreed, “It felt like a really safe space. There were moments where we could explore the scene and try it different ways and that ended up in a piece of furniture getting broken.”
“We just laughed,” he said of the aftermath. “And then, I think Nicola spoke, like in her Irish accent, and I thought, it would have been so special – I mean, maybe it will be in the final cut, us breaking into laughter — ‘cause I think that’s quite Colin and Pen as well. So it would be nice.”
