Bridgerton star Nicola Coughlan has revealed that she requested a PG cut of the series for her Irish Catholic family, as part of her contract.
The actress, who plays Penelope Featherington in the Netflix Regency drama, will take centre stage in the upcoming third season as the storyline focuses on the blossoming relationship between Penelope and Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton).
During an appearance on SiriusXM Hits 1 on Thursday (April 4), Coughlan explained that she asked for a family-friendly version of the season so that her mum could watch too.
“It’s literally written into my contract. People think I’m saying it as a joke,” she said. “I just don’t want to. We grew up Irish Catholic. That’s just not how we vibe.”
The actress went on to recall her mother’s shocked reaction to the “saucy” scenes in season one, saying: “When she first saw Bridgerton, she didn’t know it was going to be saucy. And then you get a bottom, Jonathan Bailey’s lovely bottom, about two minutes into the first episode ever.
“And she was like, ‘What is this?’ But then, now she thinks it’s fantastic and really funny, and she keeps talking about bottoms.”
During a recent Q&A with Digital Spy and other press outlets, Coughlan and co-star Newton discussed what fans can expect from Bridgerton’s next season.
On season three’s steamy content, Coughlan said: “It amped up more than I thought. It’s like: ‘Oh, wow, we’re doing that. OK.'”
Newton added: “It was scary that we were friends to begin with because if you thought about doing that stuff with your friend, it’s quite like, ‘Ooh’, but then we could talk about it and have a laugh about it, and [it] ended up quite fun.
“And I also think it’s just steamy across the board. There are lots of people within the ‘Ton that are at it. It’s not just us.”
