t’s about time to shake up the Ton. Throughout the first three seasons of Bridgerton, all of the romance has been purely heterosexual. OK, there was that maybe-flirtation between Benedict and Sir Henry Granville in Season 1, and the spinoff Queen Charlotte did provide some gay action, but for a lot of LGBTQ+ viewers the steamy storylines have become too predictably straight. But that’s going to change soon, showrunner Jess Brownell recently promised.
Ahead of Season 3, Brownell told Refinery29 that Bridgerton will have queer main characters in the future. “Yeah, absolutely,” Brownell said. “I think this is a show about the many ways in which people love. So it only feels right to show all the ways in which people love, including queer love. So we are exploring queer love stories across the next couple of seasons.”
However, Brownell wouldn’t reveal exactly which characters would be involved in these more inclusive romances. “I don't want to say exactly how that plays out,” she said. “But it was important to me to foreground queer love and to tell queer stories and tell stories about queer joy as well.”
While Brownell didn’t name names, there have already been tons of fan theories about the sexuality of two Bridgerton family members. Because of Benedict’s closeness with a male artist in the first season, many fans believed the show’s portrayal was going to explore him potentially being gay or bisexual. However, his storyline veered away from that in following seasons.
Eloise’s name has also been brought up as a character who’s particularly queer-coded. The middle child detests the traditional courting rituals and spurns nearly every man who’s tried to date her — well, except for one. Still, some fans (and even actor Claudia Jessie herself) believe letting Eloise explore her sexuality beyond what is thought polite in the 19th century society would both be in-character and a refreshing change from the books.
Then again, the show may keep all of the Bridgertons straight and instead introduce new LGBTQ+ characters to the future seasons. At least now we know that queer stories are coming to the Ton.