New ‘Bridgerton’ Showrunner Explains Why S3 Is Skipping Straight to Penelope and Colin’s Romance

Well . . . This may answer some of your questions about Bridgerton S3. ~ V

When Nicola Coughlan announced that “Bridgerton” Season 3 will focus on Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton) and Penelope Featherington’s love story, viewers couldn’t help but wonder why the show was straying from the Julia Quinn books it’s based on.

While the first two seasons of the Netflix hit followed the books — first focusing on Daphne Bridgerton (Phoebe Dynevor) and then on Anthony Bridgerton (Jonathon Bailey), the third book is about Benedict. Jess Brownell, who stepped in as the new showrunner as Chris Van Dusen exited, exclusively shares the reasoning with Variety.

I really feel like it’s Colin and Penelope’s time. Because we’ve been watching both of these actors on our screens since Season 1, we’ve already invested in them a little bit. We know who they are as people.

I feel like, especially in the last season, there are these moments of tension between them where it’s like, Colin walks up to the line of almost realizing that Penelope has feelings for him but doesn’t quite get there. Instead of treading water on that dynamic, we wanted to push it into their season. It really felt like the perfect moment to tee it up.

Do you think that changing the order is going to change bigger picture elements and drift a bit further away from the books?

Well, we already differ from the books a little bit because we’re an ensemble show. The books really focus on one on one romantic pair at a time and maybe the siblings have a little cameo here and there but they don’t have full stories. In that way, even though we’re reversing the order of the books, I think all the people you would expect to see — Benedict, who is book three, he will be a vital part of Season 3.

We know Anthony and Kate are going to be be back. Are they going to be a big part of next season? What about Daphne?

We want to keep seeing all of our Bridgerton siblings. We feel like those moments when the whole family is together is what really makes the show and makes all of us, I think, want to be a Bridgerton. So yes, you will definitely be seeing Daphne, Anthony and Kate — how much, I don’t want to say quite yet, but you have to tune in.