Will Jonathan Bailey Return In Bridgerton Season 4? Here's What We Know
Bridgerton has been instrumental in the boom in romance and yearning of the last few years, and one character with a particular pull is Jonathan Bailey’s Anthony Bridgerton.
The fan-favourite character has been noticeably absent since the first half of Bridgerton’s fourth season premiered last week, but there’s some good news for fans who have been missing him.
Here’s what the fate holds for the future…
Why wasn’t Jonathan Bailey in part 1 of Bridgerton season 4?
We last saw Anthony Bridgerton at the end of season three.
In these scenes, Anthony’s wife Kate – played by Simone Ashley – was pregnant with the couple’s first child, and they had plans to head to India to see Kate’s home town and surround their child with Sharma family history.
Bridgerton showrunner Jess Brownell previously explained that the decision for Anthony and Kate to exit the show was planned to allow actors Jonathan and Simone time to explore other projects outside of the period drama.
“I think the strength of sending them off to India for a little while is that it does leave the door open for them to come back, schedules allowing,” she said in an interview with Teen Vogue back in 2024.
She added: “I think, understandably, when any of our lead actors have given over their lives for their season, in future seasons, we want to be supportive of the fact that they do have other projects coming in, and to ask actors to come back just to be in the background is not really fair to them.”
Will Jonathan Bailey return in the second half of Bridgerton season 4?
That’s where the good news comes in. While we didn’t see a glimpse of Anthony in the first batch of episodes rolled out for season four, we know that a return is on the way.
“We’ve confirmed Jonathan Bailey and Simone Ashley are both in the season, and if you haven’t seen them in part one, you’re going to see them in part two,” the showrunner told Variety.
What will Anthony’s storyline be in season 4 of Bridgerton?
In that same interview with Variety, Brownell teased that Anthony and Kate’s return spells big responsibility.
“They do have an integral role to play in terms of being the viscount and viscountess and the elder siblings,” she said. “And I think it’s lovely to have them back to advise and guide.”
We can also expect to see the pair as parents, with characters revealing early on in season four that Kate has given birth.
Beyond that, we’ll have to wait and see.
Bridgerton season four continues with four new episodes on Thursday 26 February.