Lady Whistledown Confirms: Netflix's Bridgerton Is Getting A Second Season
Our prayers have been answered! The second season of the Bridgerton series has finally been confirmed. After countless hours of web browsing for Bridgerton outfits and weighing all the insider information to conclude who of the cast is dating whom, Lady Whistledown, voiced on the show by Julie Andrews, confirms to us that a second season is in the works. The special edition of Lady Whistledown's Society Paper has confirmed speculation that the second season will focus on the pursuit of a suitable marriage for the eldest Bridgerton sibling, Anthony, played by Jonathan Bailey.
It also confirms that season 2 will start filming this spring in the United Kingdom. Check out Lady Whistledown's official announcement below:
After weeks of bombarding you with the latest gossip, it is my honor to announce the following: Bridgerton will officially return for a second season. I hope you have a bottle of ratafia cold for this wonderful occasion.
Bridgerton's talented cast will return to production in the spring of 2021. This author has learned from a reliable source that Lord Anthony Bridgerton intends to take the social season by surprise as never before. I will have my pen ready to report on all of his romantic activities.
But, dear reader, before you set the comment section on fire with your requests for more juicy details, know that I'm not inclined to comment on the specifics at this point. After all, patience is a virtue.
Sincerely,
Lady Whistledown
Casting is also underway for new roles, notably the female romantic lead opposite Anthony Bridgerton in The Viscount Who Loved Me, and is rumoured to be an actress of colour, most likely of South Asian descent.
18 January 2021
After less than a month on Netflix, the hit series Bridgerton, an adaptation of Julia Quinn's steamy Regency-era novel series, has captivated audiences with its saturated pastel colour story, dashingly attractive men, and lots of sex. What more could you ask for? Well, more Bridgerton, for one.
The streaming platform recently revealed that the show is estimated to reach 63 million households within its first four weeks of airing. Though there have been no confirmations on whether the series has secured a second season, showrunner Chris Van Dusen has already stated that he would like to make—wait for it—eight seasons in total.
The storyline of the Shondaland show's first season is derived from The Duke and I, the first of eight in the Bridgerton novel series by Julia Quinn. It follows Daphne Bridgerton as she completes her debutante season in search of a husband, which she finds in the form of her brother's friend, Simon, the Duke of Hastings. The other books in the series spotlight each of the other seven Bridgerton children.
Speaking with Collider, Van Dusen said, "This being a family of eight children and there being eight books, I would love to be able to focus and really tell stories and love stories for all the Bridgerton siblings. For each character, for sure."
If the show were to follow the novels, the second season would adapt The Viscount Who Loved Me which focuses on Daphne's older brother Anthony, played by Jonathan Bailey. While Phoebe Dynevor and Regé-Jean Page captured fans with their love story as Daphne and the Duke, the season one finale tied a neat bow on their tale, just as it began unwrapping Anthony's.
In an interview with Deadline, Dynevor opened up about what could be on the docket for season two. "I genuinely have no idea what they’re going to do with the second season, but I imagine if they’re following the books, then it would be Anthony’s journey,” she said. “I’m sure Daphne will end up getting involved."
While the first season completed filming in February 2020 shortly before the beginning of the pandemic, Dynevor has concerns over how the new COVID-19 protocols will impact the actors' performance. In late 2020, the actress was on set in New York City for her show Younger. She said of the experience, "When I was filming, it was masks on in rehearsals. So you don’t take them off until you say action. Or at least we didn’t. It was a really strange experience. I didn’t see my character’s new boyfriend’s face until we were filming a scene together, which was really bizzare."
Dynevor worries that with these new rules in place, the actors won't be able to sufficiently prepare off-camera for their more intimate scenes (she and Page worked with an intimacy coach for six weeks to choreograph and rehearse their sex scenes).
She continued, "I can’t imagine how it would be possible to film under these circumstances. There are so many extras and so many crew members, and it’s a very intimate show. It just baffles me how we would film it under COVID rules unless there was a vaccine beforehand."
