Hear, hear ye! Consider us aghast.
It’s been almost an entire year since Netflix’s had us hooked by its erotic, Regency-era drama, Bridgerton. But aside from the steamy trysts between Daphne and Simon Basset, there was yet another element of the raunchy series that had fans hooked—the reveal of Lady Whistledown.
The face behind the town’s infamous whistleblower became the most shocking plot twist in the season’s final episode, seeing fans worldwide floored at the revelation that Penelope Featherington, played by Derry Girls‘ Nicola Coughlan, was really the mysterious wordsmith all along.
However, Coughlan herself has revealed that not only did season one of Bridgerton have a completely different ending, but it also had a completely different Lady Whistledown.
While appearing on Netflix’s Bridgerton TUDUM talent panel to promote the soon-to-be second season, Coughlan revealed that the creators of the show at Shondaland weren’t initially ready to unmask Lady Whistledown so quickly.
“They didn’t know they were going to reveal it in season one,” Coughland said, adding “they had changed back and forward a few times.”
But what fans may be surprised to know was which other character was set to become Lady Whistledown before Penelope, and why there was an entirely different ending filmed.
“It was a reshoot in July, so they had filmed a different ending. They were going to make it seem like it was Cressida Cowper,” Coughlan revealed, as per Digital Spy.
Joining Coughlan on the couch, she explained to her co-stars—Simone Ashley (as Kate Sharma), Jonathan Bailey (as Anthony Bridgerton) and Charithra Chandran (as Edwina Sharma)—that she was surprised to learn of the extent of her character’s pivotal role in the series.
“It was only after getting cast that then I found out, and I found out on an internet fan forum, because I realised that there was this huge, huge fandom behind these books,”
She continued: “It was like this whole other world opened up, but they were like ,’When Penelope is revealed as Lady Whistledown…’ and I went ‘WHAT?’”, adding, “getting cast in a Shondaland Netflix show was major, but that’s so much more major than I ever could have imagined.”
While discussing the second season, Coughlan added that the future of Penelope Featherington is sure to be “very satisfying”, but was not able to reveal much more.
A first look at the upcoming season was released at TUDUM earlier this week, that saw Kate Sharma and Viscount Anthony engage in a heated debate upon meeting, but are visibly developing a romantic tension between themselves.
Elle Australia
Written by Diandra Malivindi
Published September 29, 2021