The filming of Bridgerton’s third season has reportedly been thrown into chaos after Netflix bosses decided a number of the scripts needed to be rewritten.
The hotly anticipated upcoming season of the show, which is set to focus on the budding romance between Colin Bridgerton and Penelope Featherington, played by Derry Girls star Nicola Coughlan.
Yet the Netflix production will now reportedly see filming delayed after executive producer Shonda Rhimes deemed a set of storylines on the show to be ‘too dark’ for the racy drama.
It is understood that there were concerns over a sex plotline on the period drama, following the change in showrunner for the third season after Jess Brownell succeeded Chris Van Dusen.
A source told The Mail on Sunday that filming has been ‘delayed’ as a result of the screenwriter ‘not being happy with the direction of it’.
They said: “We have been told that it needs the fun back so there are changes which, of course, means delays.
“One thing is for sure though, the production team want to get it right for Bridgerton fans so they enjoy it as much as they have in the past.
“There are some elements that Shonda is just not happy with so wants to change them. Some of it got very dark.”
This comes after Bridgerton star Nicola Coughlan opened up about feeling ‘excited and terrified’ at the prospect of her Netflix character Penelope’s impending sex scenes on the show.
The Derry Girls fan favourite opened up about her character’s arc during the second season and beyond, as Netflix have renewed the hit Regency-era show for another two future instalments.
The Irish actress addressed the ‘exciting and terrifying’ inevitability of her own love story and accompanying intimate scenes, given the nature of the show and the Julia Quinn novels it is based on.
She said: “I think because when I signed on to this show, because it's based on the books, I knew that her love story was coming at some point, but it felt like a moment in the very distant future.”
Nicola said she’s already aware of her character Penelope’s love interest – Colin Bridgerton, played by Luke Newton – and said she used to laugh about it with her co-star.
“Luke and I, we used to joke about it all the time, and then it becomes progressively less funny and more intimidating as time goes on,” she said. “I'm really interested in how it's going to play out because she's quite modern in a lot of ways, in that she's a businesswoman.
“She's super serious about her career, but she also wants the love, she also wants the marriage.”
