Warning: This article contains spoilers
Actress Nicola Coughlan has joked that she has asked Bridgerton producers for a special family friendly version of her upcoming sex scenes on the show.
Nicola's character, Penelope Featherington, has had a secret crush on Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton) since season one of the hit Netflix series, and while they don’t get it together until season four, Nicola is already bracing herself for those tricky romantic interludes.
Speaking to RTÉ Entertainment, the Galway star said, "I honestly am going to ask Shondaland for a special family friendly cut because it’s embarrassing enough watching the racy scenes I’m not in so I’m going to put a special request in in my contract for a PG version.
"There's a scene in a carriage and Penelope and Colin are sort of arguing but then it gets very romantic. It would be such a great scene in the show but the thought of filming it terrifies me.
"A little kiss and we’re good," she added. "I’ve read the books and I know that scene gets very racy. I was in a show prior to this called Harlots and I played a harlot, and my mother has never seen that show, not one scene!"
The second season of the period romcom is on Netflix now and it moves on from the story of debutante ingénue Daphne to the eldest Bridgerton son, Anthony, a cad and bounder who becomes embroiled in a forbidden love affair with a newcomer to the Ton.
The extravagant and lush Regency romp (without an actual regent), which is based on the book series by Julia Quinn, became one of the biggest hits of the pandemic, and was watched by millions of viewers seduced by a parallel universe London of 200 years ago.
And it’s Nicola’s character Penelope who has become the beating and secret heart of one of the most popular shows on television.
She may seem like the shy wallflower of the flamboyant sub-Austen piece, but as we saw at the end of season one, Penelope has been revealed as Lady Whistledown, the author of a scandal sheet that intrigues and appalls the puffed-up denizens of Grosvenor Square and the courtiers of Queen Charlotte.
Penelope has been living a double life as she brandishes her acid quill and has become a fly in the ointment as well as a fly on the wall.
"What's going to happen when she has to stand up in front of the queen. I don’t think she’s going to be as brave without her pen in her hand!"
Speaking about the prospect of Penelope having her own love story, Nicola, who will soon be seen in the third and final series of Derry Girls, said, "It would be exciting and terrifying. I signed on to this show and because it’s based on the books, I knew that her love story was coming but it felt like a moment in the very distant future and I know who her love interest is already - it’s Colin Bridgerton.
"Luke, who plays Colin, and I used to joke about it all the time, but it becomes less funny and more intimidating as time goes on.
"I’m really interested to see how it plays out for Penelope. She’s quite modern in a lot of ways. She’s a businesswoman and it super serious about her career but she also wants the love, she also wants the marriage, she wants a bit of everything, so I’m really interested to see how that plays out."
The show’s fans can be a very committed lot and Nicola says she has been sent some examples of their fan art.
"The Bridgerton books are light and fun and also extremely racy and that’s an interesting juxtaposition," she says. "So, let’s just say some of the racier scenes have turned into fan art and let’s just say some of it has been sent to me."
"There's no chance of that because when I go home I’m not treated any different. I’m my mum’s personal chef, floor mopper, the room painter . . . I’m definitely brought right back down to earth when I go home to Galway."
However, many viewers and critics have commented that season two of Bridgerton is not as steamy as the first season, perhaps because producers now have a global hit on their hands and don’t want to frighten the horses.
"I don’t think so. I just think it’s just a different kind of story," Nicola says. "Season one was a lot about Daphne and her discovering her sexuality whereas this time it’s about a forbidden relationship, so it needed more time.
"There are not as many sex scenes, but it does have intimacy in it, and it wouldn’t make sense to repeat the same formula of season one because there are different characters and a different story and it’s the nature of the beast that next year it will be a different love story again and I have a feeling that next year is going to be extremely racy!"
As season one progresses we see Penelope’s relationship with her best friend Eloise (Claudia Jessie) become more and more strained as she tries to keep her secret life hidden. The gossipy pair have quite a spat and unkind words are exchanged. So, we are learning more about Pen and what a duplicitous young lady she is.
"Yeah, that scene was really difficult to film for Claudia and I," says Nicola. "Penelope is deceiving a lot of people but deceiving her best friend is the worst because she is lying to her face all the time and gathering information from her so it’s a terrible betrayal and instead of owning up her wrongs, she fights back.
"She lies to herself. She’s convinced herself that she can keep her separate lives separate but they’re merging all time and it’s causing her stress, but I would be most worried about the queen. I think that’s where Penelope has really made her mistake.
"She’s agitating her all the time and Golda Rosheuvel, who plays the queen and is a really good friend of mine, we’ve talked about what’s going to happen when she has to stand up in front of the queen. I don’t think she’s going to be as brave without her pen in her hand!"
Speaking of Nicola’s mother, it turns out her main concern was Nicola getting a dance scene at one of Bridgeton’s frequent balls and she was delighted when it finally happened.
"I was much better at keeping secrets this time around because with series one I told my family everything and they were raging with me when the show came out because they knew what was going to happen," Nicola says.
"So they’ve all warned me that they don’t want any spoilers, but my mother would ring me every time we were filming and say, `did you get a dance?’ That was her biggest concern."
There is no danger of Nicola getting notions with her success. "That’s the one thing they stop me from doing, getting notions," she laughs.
"There’s no chance of that because when I go home I’m not treated any different. I’m my mum’s personal chef, floor mopper, the room painter . . . I’m definitely brought right back down to earth when I go home to Galway."
Alan Corr @CorrAlan2
Season two of Bridgerton is on Netflix now
