Bridgerton showrunner reveals all the super juicy details of season five, and I can’t wait

Bridgerton has now confirmed what we’ve been speculating on for months: Francesca and Michaela are taking centre stage next season.

Showrunner Jess Brownell has addressed the massive cliffhanger from the season four finale, where Michaela Stirling (Masali Baduza) suddenly left Mayfair after promising Francesca Stirling (Hannah Dodd) she wouldn’t. Speaking to Tudum, she said, “I’ve been asked questions by journalists about ‘What did that mean? What was she feeling?’ ”

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And now we finally have answers coming. Season five will centre on Michaela, the world traveller, and Francesca, now a grieving widow, as their love story unfolds. Brownell teased: “More than ever, season five is going to be about yearning,” making it clear this is going to be a slow-burn, second-chance romance.

The new season, currently filming outside London, is also a major first for the show, as it focuses on a same-gender relationship. “It feels groundbreaking. Obviously, there are a lot of great shows that have depicted queer love. We’re not the first by any means,” Brownell said. “But to make an entire Bridgerton season about a sapphic relationship feels huge.”

Things get complicated when Michaela comes back to London to manage the Kilmartin estate, forcing Francesca to confront her real feelings.

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Brownell also explained the decision to hold back Michaela’s perspective until now: “From what we set up in season four, we’ve gone pretty deep into Francesca’s story. What we haven’t done is go into Michaela’s perspective just yet. It’s very intentional that we haven’t really dug into why she left and what that means, because we want to save her perspective for season five. We’ll understand what she’s been feeling all along now that we’re telling Francesca and Michaela’s story.”

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She also hinted that the storyline draws on emotional themes from the books but reinterprets them through a queer lens: “Obviously, in the book, that is only specific to the fact that Francesca was married to John. But there was an element there that I thought, ‘Oh, this could translate really well to some of the feelings that come up when you experience your first queer love.’ ”

And if you were worried this season might lean into angst-heavy storytelling, don’t be. Brownell made it clear the vibe is very much the opposite: “What is most exciting about Season 5 is that it is going to be a season about queer joy. It is not going to be a season about queer trauma.”

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That doesn’t mean there won’t be drama, though. “There are going to be difficulties for the characters and conflict in the same way there is for every Bridgerton character. But we are still always grounding our love stories in the fact that this series is about joy. It’s about humor.”

And the biggest theme? Longing. Lots of it. “And, if there’s anything really specific about this season, it is the yearning. It’s big-time yearning… Those of us who know what it’s like to be in a sapphic relationship or have a sapphic crush understand that’s so baked into the experience… Like the moment where you think, like, ‘Oh gosh, are we just friends? Or is this more?’ You know, the gay panic. We’re having so much fun with it this season!”

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Featured image credit: Netflix