Bridgerton fans thought an accidental leak confirmed that Benedict is meeting his love interest, Sophie, during season 3 — but that might not be the case.
The speculation started when season 3 lead Nicola Coughlan shared some behind the scenes photos from set on Sunday, June 2, writing via Instagram, “10 days till part two but who’s counting?”
Some of Coughlan’s followers zeroed in on the last pic of the actress, 37, sitting in hair and makeup alongside her costar Luke Newton. More specifically, fans pointed out that a Post-It note attached to the mirror read, “Sophie.”
A social media user wrote “SOPHIE?!? 👀” in the comments, to which Coughlan replied, “lolll no that’s @sophie.burton.33’s makeup station!!” Sophie Burton, who was mentioned in the response, is a makeup artist on the hit regency series.
Despite getting fans’ hopes up, it remains unclear whether season 3 ends with Benedict (Luke Thompson) crossing paths with his intended love interest, Sophie. Benedict and Sophie’s love story was actually at the center of the third novel in the Bridgerton book series, An Offer From a Gentleman, which serves as inspiration from the show.
The Netflix series, however, hasn’t followed Julia Quinn‘s books exactly when it comes to details — or the order of the seasons. The third season was the first time Bridgerton pivoted by focusing on Colin (Newton) and Penelope (Coughlan) instead as seen in Quinn’s book Romancing Mister Bridgerton.
“[We have] really [been] getting to know Pen and Colin. We’ve been watching Pen’s crush and seeing how oblivious Colin is to it. That’s a dynamic that you can only play out for so long before something has to change,” showrunner Jess Brownell noted to Entertainment Weekly in December 2023. “This really felt like the right time to lean into what’s been set up with them.”
More recently, Brownell weighed in on what other changes fans can expect.
“I am really not trying to shake things up too much. I really believe in the vision of the show,” Brownell told Refinery29 in April. “I really want to serve the stories and the books the best way possible. It just naturally felt like, for Penelope and Colin, it made sense to lean into a romantic comedy tropes. So this season does have a bit more humor in it and it has the awkward banter. So that’s something that will feel slightly elevated in terms of being different from last season.”
Brownell teased that season 3 hinted at who the next lead would be, telling TV Insider that same month, “I won’t give you anything, but I do think that there are some clues at the end of Season 3 of where we’re headed. So yeah, I leave that to fans to pick apart, but I think we’re tipping our hand just a little bit.”
Thompson, 35, for his part, doesn’t appear to be bothered by the fact that Benedict’s story has been delayed.
“It’d be nice to give the character a full exploration, that’d be really fun, but the way the show runs — it’s a big ensemble show,” he told Country and Town House in May. “As long as I’m given interesting things to do, I don’t really mind.”
The first half of Bridgerton season 3 is currently streaming on Netflix. The remaining episodes drop on Thursday, June 13.
