Bridgerton Season 3 Will Focus on Colin and Penelope's Love Story

Fans of Bridgerton have long expected the show to follow in the same order as Julia Quinn's books. Seasons one and two have so far followed the first two books—tracing Daphne's love story with Simon, the Duke of Hastings, and then Anthony's love story with Kate Sheffield/Sharma.

Naturally, many have thought that season three will follow the story of Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson) and Sophie Beckett—the plot of Bridgerton book three, An Offer From a Gentleman. However, fans have started to speculate that Benedict's romance may not be the main storyline of season three. Rather, Benedict's little brother, Colin (Luke Newton) may take the stage.

While speaking about Bridgerton season two, executive producer Shonda Rhimes told Entertainment Tonight, "We're definitely planning on following each of the [Bridgerton] sibling's romantic stories." Yet, she added, "We're not necessarily going in order—but we are going to be seeing each one of the siblings and their stories."

Some fans took this as a direct nod to season three—that Benedict won't be next in the Bridgerton-verse—especially because Rhimes has previously said she wants to make eight seasons and "maybe more."

There are two age-appropriate candidates besides Benedict to lead season three's love story: Colin or Eloise (Claudia Jessie). Yet, due to the growth of Penelope and Colin's romance in season two, many are leaning to the former.

Indeed, season two star Simone Ashley seemed to confirm that season three will be all about "Polin" (a.k.a. the Penelope and Colin love story), and that Kate and Anthony will be returning.

"Yes, there will be a post-marriage Kanthony story for sure," Ashley told E! News. "And I'm super excited for the world to see Nicola [Coughlan] and Luke [Newton] rock it, but also to just play with the Anthony and Kate story now that they're loved up and they've kind of sorted themselves out."

A designed graphic on Bridgerton's Instagram account of Colin with a letter to Penelope also has fans speculating in the comments the show is hinting at Colin and Penelope in season three:

Twitter is guessing, too, season three will be all about Penelope and Colin's romance:

In mid-May, Netflix confirmed the rumors: season three will officially focus on Penelope and Colin's storyline, going out of order from the books. "I love Polin," Luke Newton, who plays Colin, told Netflix's Tudum. "There's so much love for that relationship. Which brings its pressures because there are people that are really excited about this story to come to the forefront. But also it really warms me."

The romance between Colin and Penelope makes sense to go next. "I feel like if you see Penelope fawning over this boy for another season, you’ll be like, ‘Get it together! Come on, move on and get over it,'" Coughlan told Netflix's Tudum "[Showrunner] Jess [Brownell] has talked to Luke and I through the season, and I think people are going to be really obsessed. I think book fans are going to be happy."

Season three starts filming summer 2022; no premiere date has been announced yet.

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