Everything We Know So Far About 'Bridgerton' Season 3

We’re in for quite the carriage ride.

Dearest reader, it’s time to dust off your finest corsets and prepare to promenade: After two long years of waiting, Shonda Rhimes’s hit show Bridgerton is finally back for a bingeable third season. In this third installment, it’s Penelope Featherington’s—aka Lady Whistledown’s—time to emerge from behind the quill and shine in the spotlight.

With familiar faces returning to the small screen and a heart-pumping new storyline that’ll have you at the edge of your chaise lounge, here’s everything we know so far about the third season of Bridgerton on Netflix.

'Bridgerton' Season 3 Cast

The newest season of Bridgerton will bring back some fan-favorite faces (and grandiose costuming, of course).

Nicola Coughlan and Luke Newton will be reprising their roles as Penelope Featherington and Colin Bridgerton, this time as leads. Claudia Jessie (Eloise Bridgerton), Luke Thompson (Benedict Bridgerton), Golda Rosheuvel (Queen Charlotte), Adjoa Andoh (Lady Danbury), Ruth Gemmell (Violet Bridgerton), Lorraine Ashbourne (Mrs. Varley), Hannah Dodd (Francesca Bridgerton), Simone Ashley (Kate Sharma), Jonathan Bailey (Anthony Bridgerton), Harriet Cains (Philipa Featherington), Bessie Carter (Prudence Featherington), Jessica Madsen (Cressida Cowper), Florence Hunt (Hyacinth Bridgerton), Martins Imhangbe (Will Mondrich), Will Tilston (Gregory Bridgerton), Polly Walker (Portia Featherington), and Julie Andrews (Lady Whistledown) are set to star in season 3 of Bridgerton, according to Netflix.

Three new cast members are joining the ensemble as well: Daniel Francis (Marcus Anderson), James Phoon (Harry Dankworth), and Sam Phillips (Lord Debling), who will appear as a new potential suitor for Penelope.

Unfortunately, there won’t be any appearances from the Duke and Duchess of Hastings this season. “Well, I did my two seasons,” Phoebe Dynevor, who played Daphne Bridgerton, tells Variety. “I’ve done what I wanted to do with that character and she had a great arc. If they ask me back in the future, who knows?”

For those who are nostalgic for the fiery second season, have no fear. In an interview with Deadline, Simone Ashley, who plays Kate Sharma, says that in season 3 Kate and Anthony are just getting started. “I’d like to see Kate just let go a bit more and play more in Season 3 and kind of swim in that circle of love together. I think they both deserve it,” she says.

'Bridgerton' Season 3 Premiere Date

Part 1 of Bridgerton season 3 will premiere on May 16 with part 2 releasing a month later on June 13.

There will be 4 episodes in part 1 of the series and 4 episodes in part 2. In total, there will be 8 episodes to watch in the third season of Bridgerton.

How to Watch 'Bridgerton' Season 3

Bridgerton season 3 will stream on Netflix, just like seasons 1 and 2.

'Bridgerton' Season 3 Plot

Season two of Bridgerton ended with Penelope falling out with her best friend, Eloise Bridgerton, and overhearing Colin telling a group of his friends that he would never court her. Now, the third steamy season will be following the aftermath. The storyline is based on Julia Quinn’s fourth Bridgerton novel, Romancing Mr. Bridgerton, with the center of the story following Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) in search of a suitor.

"Penelope enters season 3 finally ready to give up her longtime crush on Colin,” says Netflix’s synopsis of the series. “However, that doesn't mean she's done with love. Instead, Penelope has decided it's time to take a husband — and preferably one who will give her the freedom to continue her double life as Lady Whistledown, far away from the prying eyes of her mother and sisters." Colin, who is eager to win her friendship back, offers to help her in the marriage market, catapulting the two into a friends-to-lover slow-burn romance.

"I'm hoping that he has sort of a more sensitive side to him," Luke Newton tells Tudum of his character Colin. "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. Then it sparks something from there."

Although the first two seasons followed the first and second book respectively, showrunner and executive producer Jess Brownell decided to skip ahead to fan-favorite Polin’s season for the third installment of the series.

“I really feel like it’s Colin and Penelope’s time,” Brownell told Variety. “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,” she says. “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.”

While the storyline may deviate from Quinn’s fourth novel a bit, viewers can still expect the same fiery passion — and fabulous outfits — from previous seasons.

“A huge theme in this series of Bridgerton is the idea that Penelope is stepping out of the shadows and into the light (look out for the titles of the first and last episodes),” Coughlan writes in Harper’s Bazaar UK. “But not only was this a journey that Pen had to embark on, it’s also one I had to go on myself. I was presented with these brilliant opportunities but was racked with doubt as to whether I could take on the challenge.”

In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Coughlan says: “I think this is the most action-packed season in terms of a lot goes on for all the characters.”

'Bridgerton' Season 3 Trailer

The newest season’s trailer dropped on April 11, giving us a glimpse of steamy scenes to come.

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