“Bridgerton” season 3 teases a spicy second half. Why Nicola Coughlan’s sex scenes are important.

Spoiler alert: This article contains details about season 3 of The Bridgerton Chronicles.

Dearest Reader, Season 3 of the bodice-ripping, tie-burning phenomenon The Bridgerton Chronicles went down on the tonne (short for “la bon ton”, or British upper class, for all you non-watchers), and this brings about the official start of the “Polin” season, i.e. Penelope Featherington and Colin Bridgerton’s season .

When it released on May 16, fans of the Regency-era romance eagerly devoured the first half of the new season, breaking Netflix records with 45.05 million views worldwide.

Now forced to wait until June 13 for the second batch of episodes, fans are anxiously counting down the days until the conclusion of season 3 – which promises to be particularly spicy, given star Nicola Coughlan’s request so that her character Penelope is “as naked as possible”. .”

Coughlan’s steamy on-screen romance with co-star Luke Newton As Colin not only inspires viewers to fan themselves frantically (especially during that thrilling carriage ride), he also inspires them to cheer for a plus-size performance in the romantic lead.

“Plus-size actresses have for too long been portrayed as fat, single or funny friends. They deserve the main character treatment,” Kate Sturino, body acceptance advocate and founder of beauty brand Megababe, told Yahoo Entertainment.

“When I was watching the hookup scene, I realized how unusual it was to see a larger body getting the treatment in a sex scene. The lighting, the close-ups, the passion! And with a leading man, no less, like the handsome Colin Bridgerton, not a supporting character,” added Sturino. “It was so exciting to see Penelope attract not one but two suitors. It was also great to see how Colin had a lot of sexual desire for her. It’s important to show it!

While the season is based on the novel by Julia Quinn Romancing Mister Bridgertonthe fourth of The Bridgerton Chronicles In the series, the producers cut a major plot point that the book follows: Penelope’s weight… and weight loss.

“We think Penelope is beautiful, and I don’t think that’s really part of her story,” showrunner Jess Brownell said. Variety. “The fact that she’s a wallflower on our show, I think, has more to do with her confidence level than her outward appearance. So I think that’s more of what we’re playing with this season.

One plot from the book that they kept, however, was Penelope’s makeover – which fans call the “The Bridgerton Chronicles glow-up,” a wardrobe transformation that characters undergo when they become the romantic lead.

In season 3, gone are Penelope’s lemony dresses and tight poodle curls. Now, as her character moves out of the wallflower role and into that of leading lady, her look is more glamorous.

But more important than what Penelope wears is what she doesn’t wear — which Coughlan says won’t be much, per his request.

“I specifically asked for certain lines and moments (from the book) to be included…There’s a scene where I’m very naked on camera, and that was my idea, my choice,” Coughlan said. Stylist.

“It was just like the biggest ‘f*** you’ of the whole conversation around my body; “

It’s this on-screen empowerment that encourages fans of the plus-size community.

Remi Bader, model and body-positive content creator, recently took to her Instagram Story to share a message she received from a follower.

“Between Nicola being the leading lady of this season of The Bridgerton Chronicles and Hunter McGrady on the cover of SI swimsuit in a week, the little chubby girl inside me is so happy to see this. I’m still a chubby adult, but I really wish we had this kind of representation when I was growing up in the early 2000s.”

To this, Bader responded, “That’s so true. Although I’ve been sad about the lack of representation of curvy, curvy bodies in fashion lately, we need to look at what’s being done, and both of those are huge!

McGrady, a plus-size model, was inspired by Bader’s Instagram story.

“We are seeing a devastating decline in body representation (and) diversity on all corporate boards. I know the plus community really feels it… We’ve gone back to worshiping only one body type,” she said in the video.

“We need representation more than ever… We’ve made so much progress and now we’re falling so far behind. I stopped seeing plus size women in ads across the board… We still deserve to be valued.

However, some feel that Coughlan’s role as Penelope is not enough to advance body representation.

“I think it’s cool to see someone bigger than a size 2 on screen. Is it revolutionary? No. Is it sufficient ? No,” Raffela Mancuso, a mental health and body image activist, shared with Yahoo Entertainment.

“I think a lot of people see themselves in (this role). It helps people feel normalized in their bodies. It’s empowering in that sense, when we’re in a society that has taught us to hate ourselves for so long. (But) we’re not done yet.

As for Coughlan herself, the actress said she hopes her body of work will one day matter more than her actual body.

“I hope that in the future, more people will talk about our work, our inspirations, our dynamism, rather than our look. A revolution is happening and I want to play my part in it,” Coughlan wrote in a 2018 Guardian article.

She echoed the same sentiment more recently in an interview with Tatler in 2022. “I know the world is very obsessed with body image, but I always hope people focus more on my acting than that. …Your relationship to your body is so personal. If I decide to suddenly become a bodybuilder and apply fake tan and be covered in muscles, I can do it – because it’s my body and no one else should own it or decide what to do with it. I always wished I wouldn’t become known as a body positivity influencer and just be known as an actor.

The first part of Bridgerton Season 3 is now streaming on Netflix.