If Bridgerton intimacy coordinator Lizzy Talbot is indeed correct, then season 5 will be just as steamy as its predecessors.
“Moment of silence for all the husbands whose wives will leave them after watching season 5,” Talbot wrote via her Instagram Stories on Thursday, March 26, sharing a photo of actresses Hannah Dodd and Masali Baduza embracing ahead of production.
Netflix announced earlier this week that Dodd and Baduza, both 30, will lead the next season of Bridgerton. Dodd plays Francesca, the sixth Bridgerton sibling from author Julia Quinn’s bestselling regency romance novels. In Francesca’s book, When He Was Wicked, she falls in love with late husband John Stirling’s cousin Michael Stirling.
The Shondaland-produced series, meanwhile, swapped Michael to Michaela (Baduza) onscreen that sparked a flurry of fan backlash for deviating from the source material.
“I’m very happy for people to discuss and debate the show and our approach to adapting the books,” showrunner Jess Brownell told Tudum on Tuesday, March 24. “I want to state really plainly, there is no place for homophobia or racism or any form of bigotry in the Bridgerton world. Bridgerton is about love and inclusivity.”
She continued, “Masali and Hannah and all of our cast and crew deserve nothing but positivity and love. It’s been beautiful to see the way fans have already started rallying around them, and I can’t wait to watch that love grow.”
Book author Quinn, 56, has also approved the casting twist.
“I expected some disappointment, [but] I didn’t expect people, like, calling me names and saying like, ‘Oh, go deposit your big fat check,’ and, ‘You sold out. You’re a terrible person,’” Quinn exclusively told Us Weekly in May 2025. “It’s just, like, if you can’t handle it, there’s always the book. I’m not going to rewrite the book, and you can have one of each.”
Hannah Dodd and Masali Baduza. ZOE MCCONNELL/NETFLIX
Dodd’s Francesca married John (Victor Alli) at the end of season 3. His character died the next season after suffering a ruptured cerebral aneurysm. Francesca and Michaela will ultimately find love in the upcoming season 5, which takes place after a two-year time jump.
“She does [love John], trust me, and that needed to be an important part of the story that both she and Michaela are really mourning him, because that’s the crux of the story,” Quinn told Us of Francesca’s mindset about moving on. “[In] When He Was Wicked, they both feel terribly guilty because they both loved this person. … I think it’s gonna be a heart-wrenching, emotional season, which is what When He Was Wicked was.”
Bridgerton season 5, which recently began production, does not yet have a release date.