While Nicola Coughlan and Luke Newton stepped in to lead BridgertonIn the highly anticipated third season, the two stars received some much-needed guidance from season two star Simone Ashley.
“Just to make sure they have someone, that they have a friend,” Ashley, 29, told PEOPLE at the premiere of the Netflix hit in New York City on Monday, May 13. “Me and Nicola would check each other out. She’s such an inspiration to me and I’ve learned so much from her and there’s been times where she’s given me advice, so it’s been amazing to have that in my work environment.”
Teasing the hotness of the new season, Ashley added that “the ladder [is] smashed over 10, as many zeroes as you can imagine, if that makes sense.”
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Coughlan previously told PEOPLE in June 2023 that the season is “really special and stays very true to the books,” referring to Romantic Mr. Bridgertonthe fourth book in Julia Quinn’s series about the Bridgerton family.
“I always look at the three seasons like this. I think the first season was about passion, the second season was about longing, and the third season, I think, is completely romance,” she said. “It’s so romantic.”
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From left: Nicola Coughlan as Penelope Featherington and Luke Newton as Colin Bridgerton in episode 302 of Bridgerton.
Liam Daniel/Netflix
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“There were a lot of times on set when we were shooting something and we’d turn around and everyone would be clutching their chests going ‘Oh my God.’ It was such a love – she added.
As the season opens, Penelope finds herself in social trouble after betraying her best friend Eloise (Claudia Jessie), who is also Colin’s younger sister, as Lady Whistledown. Without the company and support of his friends, he decides to take his life into his own hands.
According to Coughlan, her character is “kind of like, ‘I can’t do this anymore.’ I’m out with Eloise. I don’t want to be with my family.'”
“So she’s like a woman on a mission. She is ready to go, ready to put herself on the marriage market in a new way. He wants a whole new look and he gets it.”
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From left: Luke Newton as Colin Bridgerton and Nicola Coughlan as Penelope Featherington in ‘Bridgerton’ season 3.
Courtesy of Netflix
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Aside from her new character’s appearance, Coughlan also teased that things got heated between fans during steamy scenes between her and Newton. She shared that they broke a piece of furniture while filming the sex scene, and she found the filming process “really funny.”
“We’d be like, in between scenes, and they’d be like, ‘Do you want to get up and get dressed?’ We said, ‘We’re just going to chill here.’ Like, under the covers,” she recalled during an interview with SiriusXM Hits 1 in April. “But then we have the advantage of knowing each other for years.”
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The first part of Bridgerton season 3 premieres on May 16, and part 2 comes out on June 13. Seasons 1 and 2 Bridgerton — as well as its spinoff, Queen Charlotte: The Bridgerton Story — are now streaming on Netflix.
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Source: HIS Education