Love will begin again in Bridgerton Season 5. The upcoming episodes, now in production outside London, are led by Hannah Dodd and Masali Baduza as Lady Francesca Stirling and Michaela Stirling. During Netflix’s upfronts presentation, Bela Bajaria, chief content officer, announced the next season of Bridgerton will air in 2027. Get a taste of the swoons ahead with the video above.
“We’re super grateful and excited!” Baduza tells Tudum. Dodd agrees, saying, “When you spend so much time with a character, you genuinely do want them to be happy. So I am really looking forward to Francesca feeling like she deserves love.”
The last time viewers saw Season 5’s starring couple, they were rocked by the death of the person they both loved. Lord John Stirling (Victor Alli)’s death in Season 4 left Francesca widowed and Michaela without her closest relative and confidant. Season 5, which picks up two years later, will usher both women into a new chapter of love and hope; it will also feature Bridgerton’s first same-gender central love story.
“It feels groundbreaking. Obviously, there are a lot of great shows that have depicted queer love. We’re not the first by any means,” series showrunner Jess Brownell says. “But to make an entire Bridgerton season about a sapphic relationship feels huge.”
Dodd and Baduza are excited to lead this historic season of Bridgerton. “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 says. Baduza adds, “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.”
Brownell promises fans can expect Bridgerton’s signature mix of romance, humor, and pathos as Francesca and Michaela’s journey unfolds, inspired by Julia Quinn’s novel When He Was Wicked. “If there’s anything really specific about this season, it is the yearning. It’s big-time yearning,” she says. “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!”
Prepare for the adventure ahead as Dodd, Baduza, and Brownell reveal even more about Bridgerton Season 5, from the plot and some cast secrets to the inside scoop on the costumes.
Who is Bridgerton Season 5 about?
The new season of Bridgerton will follow the romance between Michaela and the widowed Lady Francesca. “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.”
Season 5 will pick up after Francesca and Michaela have both had time to process the death of John, whom they both loved dearly. “They grieve very differently,” Dodd says. “I don’t think grieving is something that you get over. John’s going to be with Fran, and the impact of John will be with Fran forever.” Baduza agrees that Michaela feels the same about the loss of her beloved cousin. However, new love will allow both women to find some healing.
“Michaela is used to having all these walls up. I’m excited to tear down those walls and have her let Francesca in,” Baduza says. “I’m excited for people to see Michaela yearn for Francesca.”
“Francesca yearns too, to be fair!” Dodd adds.
Keep reading here for an even deeper look into Season 5 from Dodd and Baduza.
What is the plot of Bridgerton 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.
“We are still always grounding our love stories in the fact that this series is about joy,” Bronwell says. “And more than ever, Season 5 is going to be about yearning … Those of us who know what it’s like to be in a sapphic relationship or have a sapphic crush understand that’s so baked into the experience.”
Keep reading here to hear more from Brownell about Season 5.