Bridgerton fans ‘freaking out’ over new photo of fan-favourite couple

New season three stills also gave fans a first look at Hannah Dodd as Francesca Bridgerton

Bridgerton fans are “freaking out” about new photographs from the Netflix show’s forthcoming third season, after a release date was announced earlier this month.

Netflix confirmed a third season of its hit Regency Era drama, focussing on the love story between Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton) and Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan), will be released in two parts next summer.

The first part will premiere on 16 May 2024, before the second instalment arrives on 13 June.

The show, like Julia Quinn’s romance novels that it was adapted from, is set in Regency Era London. Each season follows a different sibling of the noble Bridgerton family as they try to find a suitable match for marriage.

In season one, Daphne (Phoebe Dyvenor) scandalously found love with her brother Anthony’s best friend Simon Basset, the Duke of Hastings (Regé-Jean Page). In season two, Anthony (Jonathan Bailey) was mesmerised by Kate Sharma (Simone Ashley), his fiancee Edwina Sharma’s (Charithra Chandan) older, half-sister.

Now, in season three, Colin will wrestle with newly discovered romantic feelings for his friend Penelope, who also happens to be the town’s resident gossip, Lady Whistledown.

On Christmas Day, which marked the show’s third anniversary, Netflix released five new stills from the forthcoming third season on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The caption read: “If these portraits are any indicator, the upcoming season is certainly sure to be overflowing with intrigue and scandal.”

Fans declared they were “freaking out” over one image in particular, which showed Kate happily resting in Anthony’s arms at their home.

Mild spoilers for season two follow

Bridgerton viewers will remember season two ended with fan-favourite couple, Kate and Anthony’s union after a dramatic declaration of love.

Fans were pleased to discover that their relationship is still going strong in season three, amid speculation that Kate might be pregnant with her and Anthony’s first child, the newest member of the Bridgerton clan.

Netflix also released a picture of the show’s newest romantic leads, Colin and Penelope, together at a ball. A closer look at it reveals Colin’s right hand is bandaged, as one fan asked: “now tell me WHAT HAPPENED”.

Referring to Kate and Anthony, and Penelope and Colin, by their couple names, another person wrote: “Married Kanthony and we’re getting Polin Endgame?!!???!! SOMEONE GET MY SMELLING SALTS THIS IS TOO MUCH EXCITEMENT FOR ME TO HANDLE!”

Others noted that Newton was “looking every bit the romantic hero” in the stills, referring to his character’s makeover for the new season.

The streamer also released a new picture of Enola Holmes 2 actor Hannah Dodd as the second youngest Bridgerton sibling Francesca, after taking over the role from Ruby Stokes.

According to season three’s synopsis, Penelope is ready to move on from Colin after she overhears him saying he would never be interested in her. Instead of pursuing him, the 18-year-old decides to take a husband but “lacking in confidence, Penelope’s attempts on the marriage mart fail spectacularly”.

“Meanwhile, Colin has returned from his summer travels with a new look and a serious sense of swagger.” the synopsis continues. “But he’s disheartened to realise that Penelope, the one person who always appreciated him as he was, is giving him the cold shoulder.

“Eager to win back her friendship, Colin offers to mentor Penelope in the ways of confidence to help her find a husband this season. But when his lessons start working a little too well, Colin must grapple with whether his feelings for Penelope are truly just friendly.”

Bridgerton season one premiered on Netflix on 25 December 2020, with the Shondaland-produced series quickly becoming one of its most-watched shows of all time.