Bridgerton continues drawing in huge numbers as the ratings for the season 3 premiere in the UK have topped those for the previous instalment.
Netflix’s Regency show produced by Shonda Rhimes has returned with the first half of the season focused on the romance between Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) and Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton).
One of the most anticipated love stories of the novel series by Julia Quinn, Polin managed to attract 3.6 million UK-based viewers with the first episode within a week of release, according to UK streaming service ratings supplied by overnights.tv (via Deadline).
For comparison, the season 2 premiere, released in March 2022, was watched by 3.4 million people in the UK. The second season followed the enemies-to-lovers arc between Viscount Anthony Bridgerton (Jonathan Bailey) and Kate Sharma (Simone Ashley).
Earlier this week, it was shared that the four available episodes of Bridgerton season 3 part 1 debuted to a whopping 45.1 million views and 180 million hours viewed.
This impressive figure may be lower than that of season 2 (which opened to 193 million hours watched), though it is worth noting that Bridgerton season 3 is the first instalment of the series to be released in two parts, while season 2 dropped all its eight episodes at once.
There’s still time for season 3 to smash more records when part 2 lands on the streamer on June 13. Meanwhile, fans are speculating about whether Lady Whistledown’s identity will be revealed in the second half of the season, with its star Coughlan reflecting on Penelope’s secret impacting her bond with Colin.
“She can’t really ignore it forever,” she told Digital Spy, calling Pen’s pen name “the horrible elephant in the room”.
“So I think no matter what, you know that that’s going to be an issue for them.”
Bridgerton seasons 1-2 and season 3, part 1 are streaming now on Netflix, along with Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story. Season 3, part 2 premieres on June 13.
