surprised book fans by changing Francesca’s future love interest from Michael to Michaela, but the show’s creative team is excited about the meaningful swap.
Season 3 offered Francesca (Hannah Dodd) a much larger role — following a recasting — where viewers watched her fall in love with John (Victor Alli). Francesca and John ended the season as a married couple who were planning to make the move to Scotland.
Despite Francesca’s love story being based on Julia Quinn‘s book When He Was Wicked, the season 3 finale confirmed a shakeup when Francesca met John’s cousin Michaela (Masali Baduza), whose gender was swapped from the original character named Michael.
Dearest Gentle Reader, I find myself suddenly at a loss for words,” Lady Whistledown (Julie Andrews) said in a voiceover as Francesca appeared visibly tongue-tied the minute she met Michaela. This interaction quickly intrigued fans who questioned whether it was a setup for a potential romance down the line.
Book fans already know that Francesca and John are (spoiler alert!) only married for two years before he dies. Francesca found love again when John’s cousin revealed their secret feelings for her. Before introducing Michaela, showrunner Jess Brownell confirmed plans to offer more LGBTQIA+ representation on screen after past seasons largely didn’t explore the topic.
“When we started talking about queer representation on the show, we started with a discussion that this is a show about happily-ever-afters, and that we’re not interested in queer trauma — that we really want to see queer joy,” she told Variety in June 2024. “And if we’re going to tell a queer story, we would like to find a way for there to be a happily ever after.”
Brownell acknowledged the potential obstacles for a same-sex couple considering the Regency era setting on the show, adding, “So we have done a lot of research to figure out how we can achieve that within the confines of our world. And after people see the next couple of seasons, I’ll be able to talk about that more.”
In a separate interview, Brownell teased Baduza’s involvement in the next season since the next Bridgerton lead hasn’t been announced yet.
“You’re going to see more of Michaela next season,” she told Entertainment Weekly. “I can’t say in what capacity, just in terms of not tipping my hand of where we’re going. But there is going to be a relationship between Michaela and Fran, as per the books.”
Keep scrolling for quotes from the Bridgerton cast and crew about Francesca and Michaela’s future romance:
Making the Change for a Reason
Brownell discussed what led to the decision to bring a same-sex relationship onto the show.
“The first time I read Francesca’s book, I really related to it as a queer woman. Her book is a lot about how she feels different from her family and from people in society. For some of us, that is a part of the queer experience, not for everyone but for a lot of queer people. It was important to me in creating a queer character not to just drop in a queer character to check a box but to actually tell a story about the queer experience and what it feels like to be queer,” she recalled in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “So, it felt like Francesca’s book was actually a really clean one to adapt, and we do plan on following the book pretty closely. There will have to be some changes but not major.”
Fans, however, shouldn’t be worried about how Francesca and Michaela’s story will play out.
“Also, we have examples from history of women like Francesca, who have been able to sort out a kind of happy ending, and it was really important to me to be able to tell a story that ends in queer joy,” Brownell continued. “So that’s something that we plan to lead with when we do end up telling Francesca and Michaela’s story.”