“Bridgerton” Sneak Peek: Penelope Confronts Colin About His 'Cruel' Dismissal of Her as a Romantic Prospect

In season 3, Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) tells old friend and unrequited crush Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton) about his conversation with friends that made her feel like a "laughingstock"

Penelope Featherington is finally putting Colin Bridgerton in his place on season 3 of Bridgerton.

In a sneak peek at the highly anticipated third season of the hit Netflix series, Penelope (Nicola Coughlan) confronts Colin (Luke Newton) about how he made her feel like anything but the bell of the ball.

She is quick to shut down his compliment of her dress and says, “Goodnight, Mr. Bridgerton.”

“Do you not need a chaperone?” he asks as she prepares to leave. She replies, “Spinsters do not need chaperones.”

Colin doesn’t see her that way and responds, “You are not a spinster.”

Related: Bridgerton's Penelope Gets Flustered by Her Longing for Colin in Lusty Sneak Peek at Season 3

“I'm in my third year on the marriage mart with no prospects to show for it,” she retorts. “What would you call that?”

However, Colin realizes that Penelope’s problem may larger than her being without a man. He asks, “Something wrong, Pen? Between us, I mean? I wrote to you this summer, as I always do, and why you did not respond? Admittedly, very few did but if you are going to make me say it out loud, I miss you.”

“You miss me? You miss me but you never caught me, is that correct?” she says.

He tries to interpret but she continues, “I have heard you at my mama’s ball last season, telling everyone how you would've never, ever caught Penelope Featherington.”

Related: Bridgerton Season 3 Promises to Serve Tea as Netflix Unveils Its Two-Part Premiere Date

“Perhaps we should talk about this somewhere more private,” Colin says as she interjects, “Because I embarrass you.”

“Of course, you've never caught me. I'm the laughingstock of the time even when I change my entire wardrobe. It just never occurred to me that you of all people could be so cruel,” she adds before walking away.

The hit series, helmed by executive producers Shonda Rhimes and Chris Van Dusen and based on the beloved Bridgerton book series, is confirmed to stray from the order of its source material in season 3 by focusing on Penelope and Colin's love story. Their relationship isn’t the subject of the books until the fourth novel, Romancing Mister Bridgerton.

Despite season 3 moving away from the order of the books, Coughlan told PEOPLE in a June 2023 interview that "it’s really special and it stays very true to the books."

Related: Bridgerton's Nicola Coughlan Says She and Leading Man Were 'Peeing Ourselves with Laughter' in Kissing Scenes

“I always look at the three seasons like this. I think season 1 was about passion, season 2 was about longing and season 3, I think it’s romance all the way,” said the Irish actress, 37. “It’s just so romantic.”

She added, “There were a lot of moments on set where we filmed something and we’d turn around and everyone was sort of clutching their chest being like ‘Oh my God.’ It was that kind of love.”

As season 3 begins, Penelope is socially stranded after being outed as Lady Whistledown to her best friend Eloise (Claudia Jessie), who also happens to be Colin's younger sister. Without the company and support of her friends, Penelope decides to take her life into her own hands.

“She’s like a woman on a mission,” Coughlan told PEOPLE of her character in the forthcoming season. “She’s ready to go, ready to launch herself out into the marriage market in a new way. She wants a whole new look, and she gets it.”

As for Newton, he told Netflix's website Tudum that he is excited to dive into Colin and Penelope’s love story.

"I love that we are exploring a relationship that so many people have had, where you form a friendship and you get to know each other down to the core,” he said in May 2022. “Then it sparks something from there."

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The first part of Bridgerton season 3 premieres on May 16 and part 2 drops on June 13. Seasons 1 and 2 of Bridgerton — as well as its spinoff Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story — are now streaming on Netflix.

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