Where is Cressida Cowper in Bridgerton season four? The rumours of her return, explained

In season three of Bridgerton, Cressida Cowper finally evolved from being a generic mean girl character to actually being interesting. Despite all that progress, though, she’s not a main character in season four. Here’s everything we know about Cressida Cowper’s whereabouts in season four of Bridgerton (and all the rumours about her return).

No, Cressida Cowper isn’t a main character in Bridgerton season four

She doesn’t appear in the first four episodes of Bridgerton season four. The actor Jessica Madsen isn’t on the cast list on Netflix, and hasn’t been promoting the show with the rest of the cast.

The in-universe explanation for this is that Cressida is in the Welsh countryside with her grumpy aunt, as a punishment for her antics with Lady Whisteldown. Her father may have banned her from attending balls (and b*tching about the Bridgertons).

This might not be the last we see of her
(Image via Netflix)

The showrunner said Cressida’s story hasn’t finished yet

An alternate ending for Cressida was actually filmed for season three. Cressida’s mother came to her aid, and they went off in a carriage together. However, Netflix changed this, because they wanted to leave more space for what could happen to Cressida in the future.

The showrunner Jess Bronwell told Entertainment Weekly: “It felt like an ending for Cressida. It felt like it wrapped up her story and we intentionally wanted to leave it so that we can tell a bit more story with Cressida next season.”

She might be back in season four part two

Lets’ get this out the way: Netflix haven’t formally announced Cressida will be in season fouyr. Some Bridgerton fans are convinced she will return, though. Here’s why

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In an interview with Vogue, the costume designer said: “Another key character comes back in the second part of the season, one who we love to dress. That’s all I’ll say.”

That rather sounds like it could be about Cressida.

She does love an out-there outfit
(Image via Netflix)

In screenshots that seem to be of this interview a few weeks ago, the costume designer explicitly named Cressida Cowper. He shared that the wardrobe team love to dress her, as her clothes are extra anachronistic and out-there. Cressida Cowper’s name isn’t in the article right now. Maybe it was all a rumour, or maybe Cressida is returning, and the spoiler was hastily edited out of this article.

A TV podcaster also claimed a make-up artist said Cressida had one look in season four. But again, this is all rumour – so take with several pinches of salt.

There is more to Cressida’s story in the Bridgerton books

Cressida does appear in An Offer from a Gentleman, which is the book season four is based on. She marries a rich old man called Lord Towbridge.

Cressida also throws a ball in the spin-off book Inside Ten Things I Love About You, which hasn’t been adapted for Netflix (yet).

The timeline of the Netflix show is a bit different to the timeline of the books. By the time Penelope marries Colin in the books, Cressida’s husband has died. He wasn’t as rich as she’d thought, and she winds up broke. Since the timeline is already a bit messy, this could still happen in a future season of the show.

Bridgerton is available on Netflix now. For all the latest Netflix news and drops, like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook.