Bridgerton fans rejoice at queer moments in series three
Warning - Spoilers for Bridgerton season three ahead!
Bridgerton fans are celebrating after something long sought after has happened – we’ve got at least one queer main character!
Spoilers ahead of the second part of Bridgerton season three ahead!
It has long been the dream of fans of the Regency era-set show for there to be a queer relationship. Since the show’s debut, there has been a particular desire for Benedict (Luke Thompson), the second eldest Bridgerton child, to be the character at the heart of said relationship.
Fans were teased, arguably ‘queerbaited’, in season one with Benedict befriending Henry Granville (Julian Ovenden) with whom he struck up an artistic connection. At one point Benedict spied Henry having sex with a man. It was a moment glimpsed in promos for the show that led many to assume Bridgerton would have more queerness than it has so far displayed.
Sadly, Benedict pursued women for the rest of season one, as well as season two. In the first half of season three, Benedict met Lady Tilley Arnold (Hannah New) who he ends up sleeping with. In the newly released second half of the season, things get a little bit spicier.
In the show’s sixth episode, Benedict is introduced by Tilly to Paul Suarez (Lucas Aurelio). It appears very quickly Benedict and Paul have an innate connection. After some lingering stares on the balcony, Benedict witnesses Tilly and Paul kiss before they invite him to join them.
After initially dismissing the idea Benedict reconsiders and shares a kiss with Paul before the three enjoy a threesome.
“BENEDICT BRIDGERTON IS BISEXUAL TOO?”
Taking to X after the new episodes aired one fan wrote: “The B in LGBT stands for Benedict Bridgerton.” For the record, Benedict’s exact identity within the LGBTQ+ community has not been confirmed.
Accompanying a clip of Benedict and Paul kissing another viewer wrote: “Benedict bridgerton is gay,” repeatedly. Again, it’s not been confirmed if Benedict is gay, bisexual, or anything else. “SHUT UP BENEDICT BRIDGERTON IS BISEXUAL TOO? SHUT UP SHUT THE HELL UP,” added another excited viewer.
Meanwhile, someone else wrote: “WE’RE ACTUALLY GETTING BI BENEDICT WTF”.
Another queer storyline has also been teased. In the season finale, Francesca Bridgerton (Hannah Dodd) meets Michaela Stirling (Masali Baduza), the cousin of her new husband John Stirling (Victor Alli). A brief exchange shows Francesca quite taken and flustered with Michaela, hinting at a queer romance. This would not be without reason. In the books the show is based on Francesca marries John’s cousin Michael Stirling after John’s death
Fans have long clamoured for an LGBTQ+ relationship to be put front and centre of Bridgerton and while many questions remain over the direction of the series as well as Benedict or Francesca’s storylines, it’s nice to see Netflix has listened to fans over the years.
“We have done a lot of research to figure out how we can achieve that”
Earlier this year showrunner Jess Brownell teased more queer storylines to come. She told Pride: “This is a show about love in its many forms and I think that it’s only right for us to foreground queer love and to tell queer stories. I want to see more queer joy on my screens and that was definitely a priority for me when I stepped into the showrunner role.”
In a more recent interview with Variety, Brownell remained fairly tight-lipped but again teased more queer exploration in Bridgerton going forward. Speaking specifically on Benedict she said: “He seems like the type of person who wouldn’t be as concerned with gender — someone who might be more fluid and pansexual. He’s really attracted to someone’s spirit. And so it felt like we should make sense of those pieces that were in Seasons 1 and 2. That was what we were attempting to do with his storyline.”
She also said she wanted that she wants to see queer joy on screen indicating a happy story for the show’s burgeoning queer characters. “So we have done a lot of research to figure out how we can achieve that within the confines of our world. And after people see the next couple of seasons, I’ll be able to talk about that more,” she teased.