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By Melissa Fleur Afshar
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With Bridgerton Season 4 now rolling out on Netflix to the delight of fans, attention is already turning to what comes next for the Regency-era drama.
While Netflix has yet to formally announce when Season 5 will begin streaming, a combination of prior renewals, showrunner planning and narrative clues has narrowed the field for who will lead the next chapter of the series and when filming could start.
Season 4 of Bridgerton is currently streaming on Netflix, with part one having premiered on January 29 and part two set to drop on February 26. After that date, there will be no new episodes, leaving fans to wait for news of Season 5's release.
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Bridgerton has been designed as a long‑running series, with each season focusing on the love story of one of the eight Bridgerton siblings, as played out in Julia Quinn's books of which the series is adapted from.
Netflix renewed the show for Seasons 5 and 6 in May 2025, and showrunner Jess Brownell has said she has already mapped out which characters will sit at the center of both seasons. That long‑term plan means Season 5 is already structurally decided, even if details remain under wraps.
Season 4 centers on Benedict Bridgerton, the second‑eldest Bridgerton son, and his romance with housemaid Sophie Baek. The characters are played by Luke Thompson and Yerin Ha. With Benedict’s story now unfolding, the focus naturally shifts to which sibling will be next.
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So far, all signs point to Season 5 following either Eloise (Claudia Jessie) or Francesca Bridgerton (Hannah Dodd). The Bridgerton team has teased that these two are next in line, and it also aligns with the internal logic of the show: the youngest siblings, Gregory (Will Tilston) and Hyacinth (Florence Hunt), are still considered too young to take the spotlight.
Brownell’s confirmation that Eloise and Francesca are next has effectively turned the speculation into a two‑horse race.
If Francesca Leads Season 5
Fans arguing for Francesca to go first often point to Quinn’s novels. Francesca’s book, When He Was Wicked, is frequently described as unfolding in a similar period to Eloise’s story and grappling with themes of grief, time and second love.
If the show follows this path, Francesca’s husband, John Stirling (Victor Alli), would die, and she would eventually fall in love with his cousin, Michael Stirling, with whom they live in Scotland.
In the Netflix adaptation, the character has been changed from Michael to Michaela, confirming that Francesca’s story would become an LGBTQ romance.
At the end of Season 3, Eloise travels to Scotland alongside Francesca, John and Michaela, further positioning this storyline for future development.
If Eloise Takes the Lead
In the books, Eloise’s romance unfolds in To Sir Phillip, With Love.
She marries Phillip Crane, a botanist who inherits his title and estate after the sudden death of his older brother, George. That inheritance includes a betrothal to Marina Thompson, who is played by Ruby Barker, after being introduced in Season 1.
Phillip and Marina have children, but their marriage is unhappy. After Marina’s death, which could be written out in the television series, Eloise and Phillip begin a correspondence that eventually leads to love.
The show, however, has already diverged significantly from this plot. In Bridgerton, Marina is introduced as a cousin of the Featheringtons rather than the Bridgertons and is still alive, living with Phillip in a non‑romantic arrangement. Eloise has also consistently expressed disinterest in marriage, briefly showing curiosity about a working‑class boy named Theo Sharpe in Season 2 before the storyline was dropped.
These changes have fueled speculation that Eloise’s future may shift away from the books.
All eight Bridgerton siblings are expected to have love interests over the course of the series, even if those stories take different forms than in the novels. Season 5 is reportedly set to begin filming this spring, but for now, Netflix is keeping its cards close.
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