Will there be a ‘Bridgerton’ Season 5? About next star, next Lady Whistledown

Some fans may be looking ahead to Season 5 of “Bridgerton” with the release of the final episodes of Season 4 on Thursday, Feb. 26.

The most recent season featured Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson) falling for maid and illegitimate child of nobility Sophie Baek (Yerin Ha) over the course of eight very Cinderella-esque episodes. Now that he’s found true love, it’s time for one of his remaining siblings to take the reins of the show for the new season.

Netflix has officially renewed “Bridgerton” for a fifth and sixth season, so we know we will get stories from at least two more of the siblings. But who will be the star and what obstacles will they have to face to make it to the altar? And who is taking over for gossipmonger Lady Whistledown now that Penelope (Nicola Coughlin) has laid down her pen?

Here’s everything we know about the fifth season of “Bridgerton” so far.

‘Bridgerton’ Season 5 will focus on Eloise or Francesca

Of the four Bridgerton children left unwed at the end of Season 4, only Eloise (Claudia Jessie) and Francesca (Hannah Dodd) are full-grown adults, and thus ready to look for a match in the marriage mart. It’s a toss-up for fans whose story will take center stage now that Benedict is stepping off. If the show goes in book series order, it’s Eloise’s turn next. Her novel, titled “To Sir Phillip, With Love,” comes fifth in line, but the TV show has bucked book order before, putting Colin (Luke Newton) and Penelope’s story ahead of Benedict and Sophie’s. So instead, the series could skip ahead to Francesca’s novel, “When He Was Wicked.”

Why Francesca is the most likely candidate for the next ‘Bridgerton’ star in Season 5

For “Bridgerton” fans who have never read the books, the fact that Francesca met and married a man in a subplot in Season 3, while brother Colin took the spotlight, might make it seem like her story was done without her getting a season of her own. But now, we all know better.

In the second part of Season 4, Francesca has finally found a happy place in her new marriage to Lord John Stirling (Victor Alli), after worries about conception and sexual intimacy concerned her in the first half of the season. She particularly bonded with John’s cousin Michaela (Masali Baduza). But then, in a cruel twist of fate, John died suddenly, leaving Francesca a young widow unsure of what her life will hold.

This all happens in her book, except for one major change: It’s John’s cousin Michael, not Michaela. When Michaela was introduced at the end of Season 3, fans realized the show would have its first real queer storyline whenever Francesca got her season. Considering John dies in Season 4 and Francesca and Michaela’s friendship is left in an uncertain state in the season finale, odds seem good that they could have their moment in Season 5.

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The gender-swap change has been blessed by author Julia Quinn. “I’m confident now that when Francesca has her Bridgerton season, it will be the most emotional and heart-wrenching story of the show, just like ‘When He Was Wicked’ has always been the true tear-jerker of the ‘Bridgerton’ book series,” Quinn wrote on Facebook shortly after Season 3 of the show debuted. “Honestly, it may pack even more of a punch, since John is getting a lot more time on the screen than he ever did on the page, and I think it’s fair to say we’ve all fallen a little bit in love with him.”

USA TODAY has reached out to Netflix to ask who will be the next “Bridgerton” star.

More: ‘Bridgerton’ author Julia Quinn says Francesca’s season will be the ‘most emotional’ one

Who is the next Lady Whistledown on ‘Bridgerton’?

One of the big stories in Season 4 was Penelope’s dissatisfaction with her role as gossip columnist “Lady Whistledown,” an anonymous position she held until she outed herself in Season 3. Trying to gather gossip under her own byline didn’t work as well, and the new mom was also starting to have ethical qualms about her work of ruining the reputations of women and men in the ton. With the Queen’s permission, she officially laid down her pen at the end of Season 4.

But who wrote the new edition of “Whistledown” that came out in the season finale? Someone else has decided to peddle gossip, and the nobility is ready and willing to eat it all up. Fans have speculated it could be anyone from Eloise to the new lady-in-waiting, Alice Mondrich (Emma Naomi), who has a bone to pick with the discriminatory upper classes after she and her husband unexpectedly entered their ranks.

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When will Season 5 of ‘Bridgerton’ premiere?

Although Netflix has officially announced that a fifth season will be released, specifics are currently unknown.

The show has released a season every two years or so since it debuted in 2020, so fans can probably expect to see more romance in late 2027 or early 2028.