Right, here’s the actual reason Ruby Stokes has been replaced as Francesca Bridgerton

Bridgerton series three is upon us, and whilst a new era of a show is always full of changes – one of the most notable and jarring ones is how the character of Francesca Bridgerton has been recast. Ruby Stokes played the shy, piano cherishing character across the first two series of Bridgerton on Netflix, but there’s a new face playing the role in series three in the form of Hannah Dodd. So what actually happened and why the switch? Here is why Francesca Bridgerton got recast as everyone’s favourite shag filled Netflix smash kicks off its third season.

Francesca Bridgerton has an expanded role in series three – with the character who was previously kinda in the background at the forefront as she gets ushered into her finding a husband era and forced out of her much preferred sitting by a piano era. Well, when you’re clocking that Francesa Bridgerton is looking a bit different it’s because she’s been recast as Hannah Dodd, with the reason why being that original actress Ruby Stokes departed the show to star in Lockwood & Co – a supernatural show also on Netflix.

Via Netflix

Speaking about stepping into the role, Hannah said “Filming it was absolutely terrifying, because it was quite early on in production. There was a little bit of life imitating art there. She [Francesca] was nervous and I was nervous. She was watching people, and I was watching people to learn. We were kind of going through it together.”

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Bridgerton creator Shonda Rimes said on Hannah taking the Francesca Bridgerton reins: “It’s really wonderful to truly welcome Hannah — and Francesca. We’ve only ever seen tiny bits of Francesca in seasons past, and in this season she’s back from having travelled and she’s ready to get married, and you really get to know who Fran is. Fran’s always been the invisible sister, and now she becomes front and centre in a lot of ways for us to get to know.”

I can’t wait to see how she gets on!

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

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