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A queer love story is at the center of Bridgerton season 5, and Netflix just gave us a sweet sneak peek of what it’ll look like!
Set to air in 2027, the new season centers around Lady Francesca Stirling (Hannah Dodd) and Michaela Stirling (Masali Baduza) two years after the death of Lord John Stirling (Victor Alli). Francesca is widowed and Michaela is without her closest relative and confidant. The new season will unfold a love story between the two women.
RECOMMENDED: Netflix announces three new Bridgerton cast members for season 5
The story is inspired by Julia Quinn’s novel When He Was Wicked. Francesca will reenter the marriage mart and when Michaela returns to London to tend to the Kilmartin estate, she begins to question whether to pursue her desires.
“If there’s anything really specific about this season, it is the yearning,” showrunner Jess Brownell says on Tudum. “It’s big-time yearning. It’s going to be a season about queer joy. It is not going to be a season about queer trauma. … We’re having so much fun! We’re not the first by any means. But to make an entire Bridgerton season about a sapphic relationship feels huge.”
Netflix dropped a teaser video last month but just dropped photos this week:
“[Queer love stories] have traditionally been excluded from things like period dramas—and queer people did exist, have always existed, and will always exist,” Dodd says.
“It’s been really special to have Jess guide us on this journey, because she’s very excited about this story,” Baduza adds. “What we really want to achieve is giving a realistic view of queer love onscreen and [giving them] a happily ever after.”
The duo will have their own journeys to make this season on top of facing the reality of their love for each other.
“They grieve very differently,” Dodd says. “I don’t think grieving is something that you get over. John’s going to be with Fran, and the impact of John will be with Fran forever.”
Baduza says Michaela is also grieving but has to face her own demons.
“[Michaela] is used to having all these walls up. I’m excited to tear down those walls and have her let Francesca in,” Baduza says. “I’m excited for people to see Michaela yearn for Francesca.”
The soundtrack to their love hasn’t been unveiled, but Brownell was already thinking tunes by queer artists that could be transformed into Bridgerton’s classic string quartet themes.
“Letting queer artists be the musical backdrop to a queer love story is going to be a really exciting feature of the season,” she says.
Dodd, who has a Michaela playlist, says she’s been listening to “Iris” by Goo Goo Dolls, which is the perfect song for Francesca. Baduza says she’d like to hear Chappell Roan’s “Good Luck, Babe!” but also thinks British singer-songwriter Sasha Keable could fit in somewhere.
“Francesca yearns too, to be fair!” Dodd adds.
Here’s to that! We’re ready to yearn, too. The season airs in 2027, which will be the show's quickest return yet!