Francesca And Michaela's Bridgerton Season 5 Storyline Will Celebrate 'Queer Joy'

Bridgerton boss Jess Brownell has lifted the lid on what fans should expect from the show’s upcoming fifth season.

On Tuesday, Netflix announced that the next season of the hit period drama would focus on the romance between Francesca Bridgerton and Michaela Stirling, marking the first time the show has had a same-sex love story at its centre.

Speaking to the Netflix outlet Tudum following the announcement, Jess said: “What is most exciting about season five is that it is going to be a season about queer joy. It is not going to be a season about queer trauma.

“There are going to be difficulties for the characters and conflict in the same way there is for every Bridgerton character. But we are still always grounding our love stories in the fact that this series is about joy. It’s about humour.”

“If there’s anything really specific about this season, it is the yearning,” she added. “It’s big-time 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. We had a lot of fun in the writers room for season five talking about what is really specific to women-loving-women relationships. Like the moment where you think, like, ‘Oh gosh, are we just friends? Or is this more?’. You know, the gay panic.”

Jess also revealed that Francesca’s brother Benedict Bridgerton could become a “potential ally” for her in the season ahead.

“Benedict is a queer person no matter what relationship he ends in,” she insisted. “It’s a really beautiful thing to get to tell a story about a queer person who, even if he ends up in a heterosexual-presenting relationship, still identifies as queer.”

In the most recent run of episodes, Benedict fell in love with, and eventually married, Sophie Baek, with the season featuring a scene where he comes out to her about his past experiences with men, which received widespread praise.

The next season will see Hannah Dodd and Masali Baduza stepping up as the show’s new leads, having been playing Francesca and Michaela since season three.

In the original Bridgerton novels, Francesca falls in love with her late husband’s cousin, Michael Stirling, but this character was gender-swapped for the TV adaptation.

Jess previously said: “I didn’t want to just insert a queer character for queer character’s sake. I want to tell a story that accurately reflects a queer experience, and the first time I read Francesca’s book, I really identified with it as a queer woman.”

Bridgerton author Julia Quinn also made it clear that this move has her seal of approval, insisting: “Anyone who has seen an interview with me from the past four years knows that I am deeply committed to the Bridgerton world becoming more diverse and inclusive as the stories move from book to screen.”

Production on season five of Bridgerton is now officially underway, following the success of the fourth run, which concluded last month.

Unfortunately, it looks like fans are still in for a bit of a wait until their next trip to the Ton, though, with Francesca and Michaela’s season expected to premiere in late 2027 at the earliest.