Even Lady Whistledown falls in love: A brief rundown of Nicola Coughlan’s dating history

With season three of Bridgerton just around the corner, Nicola Coughlan is without a doubt the bane of our existence and the object of all our desires. If you’re not a Bridgerton fan (seriously, what are you doing?) you’ll probably recognise her as Clare Devlin from the iconic Derry Girls.

Her shiny new debut in season three strays away from her previous awkward, wallflower persona and steps into a newfound self-confidence as she and Colin Bridgerton, the show’s new focus, fall for each other. Whilst Nicola has been soaking in the spotlight on a Bridgerton press tour, her relationship and private life remains as cryptic and confidential as Lady Whistledown. We can only imagine the stunning actress’s dance card is full of eligible suitors, but we may never know just who they might be. So, here’s a brief rundown of her dating history, based on the few tidbits Nicola Coughlan has shared:

Laurie Kynaston

via @nicolacoughlan on Instagram

Nicola’s only reported relationship was with Laurie Kynaston, a 30-year-old fellow actor from Shropshire. Laurie appears in the first episode of Derry Girls season two playing a protestant boy called Philip, notably deaf in one ear. For the episode he and Nicola’s character Clare are partnered up together to become friends despite their differing opinions on religion.

via Netflix

It is unclear how Nicola and Laurie met and whether it was on the set of Derry Girls. It is also unknown how long they went out for but according to the GalwayBeo, the pair broke up to focus on their acting careers, and she is contently single.

Luke Newton

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A post shared by Nicola Coughlan (@nicolacoughlan)

More speculatively, the Bridgerton press tour has sparked a lot of gossip from the ton regarding Nicola and Luke Newton’s “friendliness”. On April 21st this year, Nicola and Luke attended Season Three’s red carpet premiere at Milton Country House in Bowral, Australia. The two were snapped holding hands on the red carpet, which led many to wonder if the pair were more than just friends in real life too.

But the two have always been undeniably close friends, with Nicola sharing various selfies on her Instagram page. A more suggestive post shows two matching Love Island water bottles labelled after their Bridgerton roles, Colin and Penelope. If Nicola isn’t swooning, Penelope Featherington definitely would be!

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A post shared by Nicola Coughlan (@nicolacoughlan)

However, unlike Penelope’s imbalanced infatuation with Colin, Nicola has rightly high standards for herself. In an interview from March 2022, she discussed the characters’ relationship, stating that Penelope “reveres him”, and that “If you’re going to ever have a relationship with someone, you can’t be like, “Well, he’s a god, and I’m trash.”

The two are definitely comfortable around each other; in a recent interview with British Airways magazine High Life, Newton described filming intimate scenes with Coughlan “a breeze.”

“Looking back, it was a breeze. She’s my friend, so we just giggle about it”, he said.

The pair may just be friends, but who knows – they may end up with the same fate as Penelope and Colin. Or perhaps, like with Sydney Sweeney and Glenn Powell’s Anyone But You embellished romance rumours, we’re all delusional once again.

Single and thriving

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A post shared by Nicola Coughlan (@nicolacoughlan)

Ultimately, it seems that Nicola is single and thriving at the moment, so we’ll have to patiently wait for any news on the Polin front. And, in the words of the legendary Lady Whistledown, we should remember that Nicola is so much more than her relationship status: “Should a woman not be valued for so much more than her dancing skills or her comportment? Should we not value a woman instead for her candor, her character, her true accomplishments?”

While Penelope Featherington is yet to be crowned as the Queen’s diamond of the first water, that won’t stop Nicola Coughlan from sparkling on all of our television screens on May 16th.

Bridgerton season three is coming to Netflix on 16th May. For all the latest Netflix news, drops, quizzes and memes like this rundown of the dating history of Nicola Coughlan, like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook. 

Related articles recommended by this author:

• A synopsis and new cast members: Every piece of info we know about Bridgerton season three

• Here’s what happens in season three of Bridgerton based on the books

• These are the Bridgerton cast members who worked together before the show

Featured images via @nicolacoughlan and @camillavalerie on Instagram.