Here’s if Bridgerton’s Jonathan Bailey & Simone Ashley Are Dating Anyone IRL & What Their On-Set Relationship Was Like
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If you ship Anthony and Kate, you may be wondering who Jonathan Bailey and Simone Ashley from Bridgerton season 2 are dating in real life and what their off-screen relationship was like on set.
Bridgerton, based on Julia Quinn’s book series of the same name, premiered in December 2020 and went on to become Netflix’s most-watched original series. The show, executive produced by Shonda Rhimes, follows the Bridgertons, a well-respected, upperclass English family of eight siblings and their widowed mother during the Regency Era of England. Each season centers on a different Bridgerton sibling—Anthony, Benedict, Colin, Daphne, Eloise, Francesca, Gregory and Hyacinth—with the first season following Daphne Bridgerton (played by Phoebe Dynevor), the eldest of the Bridgerton daughters, and her relationship with the Duke of Hastings (a.k.a. Simon Bassett), played by Regé-Jean Page.
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Bridgerton season 2, which premiered on March 25, 2022, follows Anthony Bridgerton, the Viscount and the eldest Bridgerton son, as he searches for a Viscountess. The second season sets up a love triangle between Anthony and two new characters: Kate and Edwina Sharma, two sisters from India who arrive in London with their mother, Mary, to find Edwina a husband. A love triangle starts when Anthony, London’s most eligible bachelor, and Edwina, the season’s diamond as anointed by the Queen, date and get engaged—despite Anthony’s feelings for Edwina’s older sister, Kate, who has a love-hate relationship with him.
Buy: ‘Bridgerton’ Books by Julia Quinn $62.99
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“It’s a complicated love triangle because it’s not a conventional one. Certainly on a show like Bridgerton, you are not going to get catfights between women over men. That is just absolutely not the vibe. It’s sister before misters for sure,” Charithra Chandan, who plays Edwina, told Extra in 2022. She continued, “What you get is three people that are interconnected with each other for totally different reasons, are drawn to each other in very different ways, and it’s that entanglement between the three of them, that sort of is the drama, I guess, of this season. And I think that, like, kind of, although it’s like a really crazy situation, each individual relationship is really relatable, I think, and you’d find it in your own life, probably.”
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly in 2022, Jonathan Bailey, who plays Anthony, called the love triangle “dangerous.” “You can understand why he’s drawn to both. And they’re both drawn to him in turn. It’s an interesting love triangle; it’s dangerous when it’s siblings. It’s bestial between them in a way season 1 wasn’t. They’re all animals with each other,” he said. “Edwina and Kate are the embodiment of his approaches to love — one is head, one is heart. The push and pull [illustrates] how intense it is to fall in love in a society that is so rigid, where the gender roles are so specific, and how much those roles can be completely counterproductive to happiness, progression, and to love.”
So…who are Jonathan Bailey and Simone Ashley dating from Bridgerton season 2 and what was their relationship like on set? Read on for more about Bailey and Ashley’s off-screen dating lives and how they compare to Anthony and Kate.
Who are Jonathan Bailey and Simone Ashley dating from Bridgerton season 2?
Who are Jonathan Bailey and Simone Ashley dating from Bridgerton season 2? While Bailey and Ashley play love interests Anthony Bridgerton and Kate Sharma in Bridgerton season 2, they are not dating each other. Bailey, who is openly gay, is dating actor James Ellis. Though neither Bailey nor Ellis have confirmed their relationship, Bailey did confirm to GQ in an interview in 2022 that he has a “boyfriend.” In the interview, Bailey recalled an “actor friend,” who told him: “‘There’s two things we don’t want to know: if you’re an alcoholic or if you’re gay.'” He continued, “All it takes is for one of those people in that position of power to say that, and it ripples through. So, yeah, of course I thought that. Of course I thought that in order to be happy I needed to be straight,” he said. “I reached a point where I thought, ‘Fuck this, I’d much prefer to hold my boyfriend’s hand in public or be able to put my own face picture on Tinder and not be so concerned about that than getting a part.'” (Bailey and Ellis were also photographed at dinner together in Notting Hill in July 2021.)
In an interview with Sir Ian McKellan for Attitude magazine in 2020, Bailey opened up about how Hollywood has evolved when it comes to LGBTQ+ actors and how it’s still stayed the same. “In my generation, the out gay actors are now being poached,” Bailey said. “You get a script sent through and they’ll say, ‘Must be comfortable with talking about sexuality’. So that is in one way a brilliant thing, because it’s saying we’re not encouraging anyone not to talk about sexuality, but it’s also showing that sexuality is becoming a commodity.” He continued, “We’re saying about when you come out, that’s the beginning of a new chapter in growth, right? But for me, I don’t think I’ll ever know where I fit in, in terms of society, because it’s ever-changing.”
Bailey also told the magazine that some of the “most conservative conversations” he’s had about his sexuality have been with other members of the LGBTQ+ community. “The most conservative conversations I’ve had about me being honest about my sexuality in this day and age have come from gay men in the industry, ‘Oh, no, you can’t come out. You shouldn’t really do that. If you do that, you’re going to have to…’” he said. “They’re either people who work in publicity, or there’s also been casting directors who have put the call into my agent to say, ‘Just so that you know, the way that this is going to be sold is that it’s a gay story written by gay writers for gay actors. So by just taking the role…’” He continued, “This was at a stage where perhaps I was coming to terms with my own sexuality, I hadn’t necessarily hidden it… But I’ve never been not honest about it. It’s just there had never been a need to talk about it. There’s a sense of shame, I think, that’s palpable throughout gay men within the industry. But then there’s also this heteronormative, heterosexual understanding of sexuality.”
While Bailey has been open about his sexuality, he also doesn’t want it to overshadow his work. “Because we’re saying about when you come out, that’s the beginning of a new chapter in growth, right? But for me, I don’t think I’ll ever know where I fit in, in terms of society, because it’s ever-changing,” he said. “So, for me, I don’t want to talk about my versatility in the bedroom. I’ll talk about my versatility on stage. For me, it’s about visibility. That’s it.”
He continued, “Why is there this common assumption that because we’ve decided to gift people with the knowledge that we’re gay, it means that we’re actually then prepared to basically squat over a mirror and show them our inner workings? What do you hope for someone like me starting out on my career now? Playing straight characters, wanting to be visible, but also knowing that there are lots of things about my life that are personal, and I don’t want to cross that line. But visibility is key. What do you hope for someone like me going forward, and what are your worries?”
As for Ashley, there isn’t much known about her relationships. She did, however, tell Glamour UK in 2022 about what her on-set relationship with Bailey was like. “I would always leave him his favourite snacks in his trailer. We had a very unspoken rhythm going on in that sense, leaving gifts in each other’s trailers,” she said. Ashley also opened up to Porter magazine in 2022 about her and Bailey’s “explosive” chemistry. “Johnny and I have incredible working chemistry together. It was explosive on set,” she said. Despite their chemistry on the show, Ashley noted that she and Bailey didn’t spend much time together off set. “There was no real time to hang out, but we did manage to sneak off for a drink together one day when we were filming on location. We’ve always had each other’s backs from the start; it’s a partnership,” she said. She also referred to Anthony and Kate’s relationship as an atypical “fairy tale.” “It’s like a fairy tale. But you know, it’s not a typical fairy tale because these [are] two incredibly complex characters. For want of a better expression, [it’s] fucked up people with a complicated history,” she said.
She also discussed Bridgerton season 2’s sex scenes and how she wouldn’t be watching it with her parents. “The second season is much grittier,” she said. “There’s a lot of drama and a lot of sexual tension. My parents will be watching it – but not with me!” Bailey also told The Sunday Times in 2022 about how she wanted to make sure Ashley felt “safe,” especially during their sex scenes. “For a man it is less exposing,” he said. “I wanted to make sure Simone felt safe as a newcomer on set.” He told The Sunday Times that, while Bridgerton is filmed from the “female gaze,” he wanted Ashley to be in control over “which bit of skin” was exposed and “where” and “how” she was touched. “No one goes into a scene quaking, worrying about how it will go — if you are concerned you can talk to them,” he said. “It turns sex scenes into a choreographed dance.”
Bridgerton is available to stream on Netflix. Here’s how to read the Bridgerton books for free.
Bridgerton Books by Julia Quinn
Buy: ‘Bridgerton’ Books by Julia Quinn $62.99
For more about Bridgerton, read Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton book series. The book series—which consists of eight main books, one epilogue and four prequels—follows the Bridgertons, a well-respected, upperclass English family of eight siblings and their widowed mother during the Regency Era of England. Each of the books is centered on a different Bridgerton sibling—Anthony, Benedict, Colin, Daphne, Eloise, Francesca, Gregory and Hyacinth—as they search for true love. The first Bridgerton book, The Duke and I, followed the love story between Daphne Bridgerton and the Duke of Hastings (a.k.a. Simon Bassett) was the inspiration for season 1 of Netflix’s Bridgerton TV series. The second book, The Viscount Who Loved Me, which followed Anthony Bridgerton and Kate Sheffield (renamed Sharma in the Bridgerton show), was the inspiration for season 2. The third book, An Offer From a Gentleman, follows the relationship between Benedict Bridgerton and Sophie Beckett, and will likely serve as the inspiration for season 3. The main eight Bridgerton books are available on Amazon for $62.99, which savers fans about $30 from purchasing each book individually.
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