'Bridgerton' Season 5 Confirms Which Sibling Romance Is Next
'Bridgerton' switches things up again, jumping to Book 6, 'When He Was Wicked' with Season 5.
Rejoice, gentle readers! Bridgerton is making smart choices again.
Whether the show is to your taste or not, Bridgerton has, over the course of four seasons, proven itself far superior to the source material. Author Julia Quinn's original novels were fluffy nuggets of a specific flavor of genre romance; series producer Shonda Rhimes has stuck close to everything that made them work, while adding one radically diversifying twist.
(No, said twist does not hold up to a single minute of historical scrutiny. But most modern genre romances don't, and it is a peculiar form of racism to insist these should.)
The series also benefits from the ability to look holistically at the nine Bridgerton books and reordering them for a better flow. Quinn has always been open about never intending to write nine books in the series – it was initially supposed to be a trilogy focused on Daphne, Anthony, and Benedict. When they became best sellers, she decided to write three more – Colin, Eloise, and Francesca – set ten years later and occurring simultaneously, so a character's exit from a room in one book is an entrance into a different one in the next.
Removing the unnecessary time jump and switching Colin and Benedict's stories was a brilliant move, turning the Featherington-Bridgerton romance into the capstone of the show's first three seasons – one might think of them as the "Traditional Trilogy." Now Bridgerton is setting up to do it again, putting Francesca's romance before Eloise, and setting up a trio of "Radical Regency Romances."
Here's the synopsis for Season 5:
The fifth season of Bridgerton spotlights introverted middle daughter Francesca. Two years after losing her beloved husband, John, Fran decides to reenter the marriage mart for practical reasons. But when John’s cousin Michaela returns to London to tend to the Kilmartin estate, Fran’s complicated feelings will have her questioning whether to stick to her pragmatic intentions or pursue her inner passions.
Masali Baduza and Hannah Dodd will lead 'Bridgerton' Season 5 (Netflix)
This season cycles up Hannah Dodd (Harlots) as Francesca Stirling to the lead position as the widowed Countess of Kilmartin and Masali Baduza (Noughts + Crosses) as Season 5's main love interest, Michaela Stirling, officially making this the show's first leading LGBTQ+ romance.
Notably, the Season 5 announcement does not confirm how much of the ensemble will return for this round, though it's a good bet Daphne and Simon will once again be AWOL, despite how weird it's gotten. (Sorry to Phoebe Dynevor and Rege-Jean Page.) That being said, it's pretty much a given with how Season 4 ended that we'll be getting Ruth Gemmell & Daniel Francis (Dowager Lady Violet & Marcus Anderson), and the still-single siblings, Claudia Jessie (Eloise), Will Tilston (Gregory), and Florence Hunt (Hyacinth), as well as Luke Newton & Nicola Coughlan (Colin & Penelope Bridgerton) and Sophie Lamont (Celia the Housemaid). Jonathan Bailey & Simone Ashley (Viscount & Viscountess Anthony & Kate Bridgerton) and Luke Thompson & Yerin Ha (Benedict & Sophie Bridgerton) are less certain to return, but will probably show up at some point.
The rest of the ensemble we feel safe in asserting will return includes Golda Rosheuvel & Hugh Sachs (Queen Charlotte & Brimsley), Martins Imhangbe & Emma Naomi (Will & Alice Mondrich), and Julie Andrews (the Voice of Lady Whistledown). Polly Walker (Portia Featherington), Lorraine Ashbourne (Mrs. Varley), and Jessica Madsen (Lady Penwood) are also most likely to put in cameo appearances. Pour one out for Adjoa Andoh (Lady Danbury), who we hope has found her way back to London in the two years* since Season 4's farewell ball.
(*The two-year time jump will take the show to 1818, the year the real Queen Charlotte passed away. It remains to be seen if the show will honor that or do away with this pesky fact, as it did with the sugar trade and the Napoleonic Wars.)
Jess Brownell will continue as showrunner for Bridgerton Season 5 after taking the reins in Season 3, with Shonda Rhimes, Betsy Beers, Tom Verica, & Season 1 and 2 showrunner Chris Van Dusen as executive producers.
Bridgerton Season 5 is now in production and will probably debut in late 2027 at the earliest, but more likely early 2028, and, yes, probably in two parts again, unless Netflix finally gets a clue and shifts to weekly installments like sensible people. (Spoiler: Netflix will almost certainly not get a clue.)
Seasons 1 through 4 of Bridgerton, as well as the Queen Charlotte prequel, are all streaming on Netflix.
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