Posted in: Netflix, TV | Tagged: bridgerton

Bridgerton: Francesca & Michaela Announced as Season 5 Lead Couple

With production on Netflix's Bridgerton Season 5 underway, Lady Francesca Stirling and Michaela Stirling were announced as the lead couple.

We've got big news to pass along for fans of Showrunner Jess Brownell and EP Shonda Rhimes's Bridgerton. Not only is production underway on the fifth season, but an announcement video released earlier today introduced the season's lead couple: Hannah Dodd's Lady Francesca Stirling and Masali Baduza's Michaela Stirling. Bonded by the death of Lord John Stirling (Victor Alli), the fifth season will check in with them after a two-year time jump. "It feels groundbreaking. Obviously, there are a lot of great shows that have depicted queer love. We're not the first by any means," shared Brownell says. "But to make an entire Bridgerton season about a sapphic relationship feels huge."

"[Queer love stories] have traditionally been excluded from things like period dramas — and queer people did exist, have always existed, and will always exist," Dodd noted. Baduza added, "It's been really special to have Jess guide us on this journey, because she's very excited about this story. What we really want to achieve is giving a realistic view of queer love onscreen and [giving them] a happily ever after." If there's already a foundational theme to the season, the showrunner shares that it would be yearning. "If there's anything really specific about this season, it is the yearning. It's big-time yearning," she noted. "It's going to be a season about queer joy. It is not going to be a season about queer trauma. … We're having so much fun!"

Inspired by Author Julia Quinn's novel When He Was Wicked, here's the overview for Season 5: "The fifth season of Bridgerton spotlights introverted middle daughter Francesca. Two years after losing her beloved husband John, Francesca decides to reenter the marriage mart for practical reasons. But when John's cousin Michaela returns to London to tend to the Kilmartin estate, Francesca's complicated feelings will have her questioning whether to stick to her pragmatic intentions or pursue her inner passions."

"I've said from the beginning that this show, in so many ways, is about allowing people to see themselves represented, allowing themselves to dream, and imagine themselves in these fantastical roles," Brownell says. "It never felt right to not be inclusive of queer love as well within that fantasy."

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