Bridgerton showrunner Jess Brownell teased details about the show’s forthcoming fifth season, which will focus on Francesca Bridgerton and Michaela Stirling’s blossoming romance.
Dearest Gentlest Reader, this new romance might make you blush.
Shortly after Netflix confirmed Francesca Bridgerton (played by Hannah Dodd) and Michaela Stirling (Masali Baduza) will be the lead couple of Bridgerton’s fifth season, showrunner Jess Brownell shared insight into how their love story will unfold.
“More than ever, Season 5 is going to be about yearning,” she told Netflix’s Tudum in an interview published March 24. “It feels groundbreaking. Obviously, there are a lot of great shows that have depicted queer love. We’re not the first by any means. But to make an entire Bridgerton season about a sapphic relationship feels huge.”
Indeed, this relationship will be new territory for Francesca. After all, her husband John Stirling (Victor Alli), also Michaela’s cousin, tragically died during season four. But in the forthcoming season—an adaptation of Julia Quinn’s book When He Was Wicked—Francesca she finds comfort once “Michaela returns to London to tend to the Kilmartin estate,” Netflix shared in the announcement.
This couple reveal comes over a year after Jess confirmed the series planned to deviate from the novel and give Francesca a queer love story in 2024. While she’s excited to explore the Bridgerton socialite’s feelings about Michaela—who is Michael Sterling in the novel—she mostly wants viewers to resonate with their connection.
“I’ve said from the beginning that this show, in so many ways, is about allowing people to see themselves represented, allowing themselves to dream, and imagine themselves in these fantastical roles,” Jess explained to Tudum. “It never felt right to not be inclusive of queer love as well within that fantasy.”
In fact, she pointed out Francesca’s character has an intriguing detail “that could translate really well to some of the feelings that come up when you experience your first queer love.”
Specifically, “Francesca feels a little bit different in her family,” the showrunner noted. “That does have a lot to do with her simply being an introvert. But that sense of difference is also something that is a big part of a lot of queer peoples’ stories. So, it was important to me to tell a story where the thematic nuggets were naturally there.”
And so far, Jess admitted Bridgerton’s fifth season—which is currently in production—isn’t shying away in exploring every aspect of Francesca and Michaela’s blossoming relationship.
“We had a lot of fun in the writers room for Season 5 talking about what is really specific to women-loving-women relationships,” Jess added. “Like the moment where you think, like, ‘Oh gosh, are we just friends? Or is this more?’ You know, the gay panic. We’re having so much fun with it this season!”