Nicola Coughlan has revealed that she will be taking a step back from her role as Penelope Featherington in the upcoming fifth season of Bridgerton. The actress, who became one of the most important faces of the Netflix period drama, opened up about her reduced involvement while speaking to E! News. Coughlan described the change as “bittersweet” but also said she feels happy about the journey she has had with the popular series.
“It’s bittersweet,” Coughlan said. “I feel like, God, I had such an epic run.” She explained that one of the things she loves about Bridgerton is that the show keeps changing its focus. Each season introduces a different central romance and gives new characters the chance to take the spotlight.
Coughlan’s Penelope became especially important to the story because she was also revealed to be Lady Whistledown, the mysterious writer who secretly reported on the secrets and scandals of London society. Penelope had been writing the gossip columns anonymously while trying to keep her identity hidden from everyone around her.
Her secret was eventually exposed at the end of Season 3 during her romance with Colin Bridgerton, played by Luke Newton. Season 4 explored the effect of that revelation as Penelope struggled to continue writing about society after losing the privacy that had allowed her to work as Lady Whistledown.
Penelope also had to deal with the consequences of the things she had written about other people. By the end of the season, she decided to step away from her role as Lady Whistledown and focus on her marriage to Colin and her life as a mother.
However, the story did not end there. A new person took on the Lady Whistledown identity, but the new writer’s identity has not yet been revealed. Interestingly, Coughlan admitted that she has no idea who the new Lady Whistledown is. The actress joked that she is “really bad at keeping secrets” and said the makers simply chose not to tell her.
Coughlan also revealed that she has not been told exactly how many episodes she will appear in during Season 5, which is scheduled to arrive in 2027. Despite having a smaller role, she made it clear that she is happy to return whenever the show needs her.
“I’ll always pop back to ‘Bridgerton’ if they want me,” she said. “If I can be set dressing, I’ll be there. No problem.”
The fifth season will shift attention to Lady Francesca Stirling, played by Hannah Dodd, and Michaela Stirling, played by Masali Baduza. According to Netflix’s Tudum, their story will become the show’s first same gender central love story. The characters were connected following the death of Francesca’s husband and Michaela’s relative, Lord John Stirling, during Season 4.