Bridgerton Season 5: Everything We Know So Far

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Season 4 is finally here – but what about season 5?

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Dearest gentle reader, it is with great pleasure that I remind you our beloved regency romance Bridgerton is back on our screens today for its fourth outing. This season is all about Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson), the second eldest son, who finds himself spellbound by the mysterious Lady in Silver (Yerin Ha) at his mother’s masquerade ball.

As his love story unfolds over Bridgerton season 4’s first four episodes, Benedict’s siblings Anthony (Jonathan Bailey), Colin (Luke Newton), Francesca (Hannah Dodd), Eloise (Claudia Jessie), Gregory (Will Tilston) and Hyacinth (Florence Hunt) occupy the story’s fringes, with Daphne (Phoebe Dynevor) living comfortably in the country with husband Simon Basset (Regé-Jean Page) and their young children. And while the former three are married, Eloise, Gregory and Hyacinth are still awaiting their happily ever afters.

So who is next? Here’s everything we know so far about Bridgerton season 5, plus which sibling it will focus on.

Yerin Ha as Sophie Beckett & Luke Thompson as Benedict Bridgerton in episode 401 of Bridgerton

Bridgerton Season 5: Plot, Cast, Release Date & More

There is no question that Bridgerton will return to the small screen for season 5 – it’s just a matter of when, and who it will concern.

At the end of Bridgerton season 4’s Paris premiere, showrunner Jess Brownell – donning a chic chocolate brown suit with matching gloves – delivered a closing speech confirming seasons 5 and 6 were in the works. A dainty white pocket square contrasted the brown, embroidered with the initials ‘E’ and ‘F’…

Claudia Jessie as Eloise Bridgerton in Bridgerton season 4

Who Is The Subject?

‘Both characters with the initials on my pocket squares will get seasons in five in six,’ Brownell told Deadline on the red carpet. ‘In what order? I can’t say.’

Every season of Bridgerton focuses on one of the eight siblings as they find their love match in the Ton. ‘E’ can only refer to Eloise, the second eldest daughter who has struggled to navigate the marriage mart thus far, and generally does not have an appetite for a wedding – unlike her eldest sister, Daphne, who was named the diamond of the social season by Queen Charlotte (Golda Rosheuvel) in season 1. But with her best friend Penelope (Nicola Coughlan) now married to her brother Colin, Eloise’s attention may soon return to her own prospects.

Claudia Jessie as Eloise Bridgerton & Nicola Coughlan as Penelope Featherington in Bridgerton season 4.

‘F’, meanwhile, must be Francesca. And if you’re wondering why – since the third eldest daughter wed Lord John Stirling (Victor Alli) at the end of season 3 – we must plunder Julia Quinn’s bestselling novels on which the entire series is (occasionally loosely) based. Francesca’s story is the plot of Quinn’s sixth Bridgerton novel, When He Was Wicked, and the events we saw in season 3 are detailed as a flashback. This is because (spoilers), Lord Stirling turns out not to be the man Francesca spends the rest of her life with: he tragically dies just two years into their marriage. Pregnant with their first child and wracked with grief, Francesca sadly miscarries and mourns both her beloved husband and their lost child for four years. But she eventually finds new love with Lord Stirling’s cousin Michael, and this is the main plot of When He Was Wicked. ‘Wicked’ in the title draws on Michael’s rakish reputation as shameless seducer in the Ton, which we expect to see in season 4 as Michael was actually introduced as a character at the end of season 3. But here’s the kicker: in Shonda Rhimes’ TV series, Michael has been gender swapped to Michaela Stirling (Masali Baduza).

Victor Alli as John Stirling & Hannah Dodd as Francesca Bridgerton in Bridgerton season 4.

‘Francesca gets together with John Stirling, and I really love that relationship,’ Brownell said at the end of season 3. ‘I think a lot of people will ship Francesca and John – as do I. But part of her exploration going forward will be about whether or not there is in fact something missing. Book readers will know what it means when she meets Michaela.’ As many fans have requested over the course of Bridgerton, it seems the producers are finally going to explore different sexualities. The only question remaining is: when?

Eloise is the subject of Quinn’s fifth Bridgerton novel, To Sir Phillip, With Love, so it would make sense to make Bridgerton season 5 all about her, and wait until season 6 to delve back into Francesca’s story with full force. That said, Shondaland has proved it is not against toying with Quinn’s timelines: Benedict and Sophie’s story is detailed in book 3, An Offer From a Gentleman, while Colin and Penelope’s romance is the subject of book 4, Romancing Mister Bridgerton; these were swapped around for the Netflix series. So will it be Eloise or Francesca first? Only time will tell… One thing is for certain, though: Gregory and Hyacinth have a little longer to wait.

Florence Hunt as Hyacinth Bridgerton in Bridgerton season 4

The Cast

Regardless of who Bridgerton season 5 is about, we expect the core cast to return – excluding Phoebe Dynevor and Regé-Jean Page, and perhaps in-demand Jonathan Bailey and Simone Ashley as their Bridgerton plots wane and real-life schedules pack up.

Even though she is wed, we expect Nicola Coughlan to return as Penelope aka Lady Whistledown, which means Luke Newton will probably also return as her husband Colin. Elsewhere in the Bridgerton family household, Benedict (Luke Thompson) may still float around (unless he moves into My Cottage with Sophie [Yerin Ha]), while Eloise (Claudia Jessie), Francesca (Hannah Dodd), Gregory (Will Tilston), Hyacinth (Florence Hunt) and their mother Lady Violet Bridgerton (Ruth Gemmell) will certainly return.

Other familiar faces we expect to see around the Ton include:

Adjoa Andoh as Lady Agatha Danbury
Daniel Francis as Lord Marcus Anderson
Polly Walker as Portia Featherington
Martins Imhangbe as Will Mondrich
Emma Naomi as Alice Mondrich
Golda Rosheuvel as Queen Charlotte
Hugh Sachs as Brimsley

Golda Rosheuvel as Queen Charlotte in Bridgerton season 4.

Release Date

If current timelines are anything to go by, we won’t see Bridgerton season 5 until 2028. Naturally, we hope it will come sooner, but here’s why it takes so long to produce.

The first four episodes of Bridgerton season 4 are streaming now on Netflix.

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Bridgerton Season 5: Everything We Know So Far