Shonda Rhimes shares shocking update about Bridgeton’s fate

We’re all waiting at the edge of our seats for Bridgerton season 2 to premiere on Netflix this Friday, and of course, fans are doing all they can to find crumbs of clues on what they can expect. We know that Regé-Jean Page unfortunately won’t be back as Simon Basset, but will he make a surprise cameo? And how exactly will Anthony Bridgerton (Jonathan Bailey) and newcomer Kate Sharma’s (Simone Ashley) romance play out?

Well, we have to wait until season 2 to be released to find out the answers to all of our burning questions, but we did just get a shocking update about the show that fans need to know. According to executive producer Shonda Rhimes, the next seasons of Bridgerton will not follow the pattern we were expecting.

In case you missed it, Rhimes previously revealed she has plans for there to be eight seasons of Bridgerton, which makes sense considering there are eight books written by Julia Quinn. Because the first season follows the first book, The Duke and I, and the second season follows the second book, The Viscount Who Loved Me, everyone assumed season 3 would be based on book 3, An Offer from a Gentleman.

But in a surprising turn of events, it looks like that might not be the case!

Shonda Rhimes confirms Bridgerton seasons won’t follow the book order

While promoting Bridgerton season 2, Rhimes told Entertainment Tonight that the show will be covering each sibling, however they won’t “necessarily” be going in order of the books. So that means it’s entirely possible Bridgerton season 3 won’t follow Benedict Bridgerton, who fans assumed would be up next. So who will season 3 be about? Your guess is as good as ours!

Check out the interview with Entertainment Tonight below, where they also ask star Nicola Coughlan, who plays Penelope Featherington, if she knows who season 3 will focus on.

Coughlan was tight-lipped and did not reveal what we can expect from Bridgerton season 3, naturally. We’ll have to get through the season 2 release before we get any details about the next installment.

Considering the ages of the Bridgerton characters, we’re guessing season 3 could follow Benedict (Luke Thompson), Eloise (Claudia Jessie), or Colin (Luke Newton). Eloise is certainly a fan-favorite, so perhaps it’ll focus on her. At this point, though, we’re just speculating.

We’ll be sure to keep you updated on any clues we hear about Bridgerton season 3, and in the meantime, be sure to stream all eight episodes of the highly-anticipated second season when it hits Netflix tomorrow, March 25!