Everything We Know About Bridgerton Season 5

Dearest gentle reader, we bring you some enticing news from the Ton. The Bridgerton Season 5 leads have been confirmed as Francesca Stirling (Hannah Dodd) and Michaela Stirling (Masali Baduza), so we're getting an entire season featuring a sapphic romance. "We're also really, really excited to tell this story and also give it the platform it deserves, like a leading storyline, not additional characters," Dodd told Refinery29 Australia during a recent interview. "I think [in Season 4], Francesca is very, very, very much in love with John, and they're not romantic scenes between Michaela [and Francesca]... it's a feeling." Bridgerton Season 5 will be set two years after the events of Season 4, so it won't be solely based around Francesca grieving her late husband John (Victor Alli).

Below, we've rounded up everything we know about Bridgerton Season 5, including the plot, cast, and details shared by showrunner Jess Brownell.

At the end of Bridgerton Season 4, Francesca was left reeling after her late husband John's cousin, Michaela, fled Mayfair instead of staying as promised. The plot will see a pragmatic Francesca reentering the marriage mart two years after losing John. With Michaela unexpectedly returning to London, Fran's feelings will rock the boat, forcing her to make tough decisions.

It's the first season of Bridgerton to focus on a same-sex couple, and showrunner Brownell told Tudum it will be a celebration. "What's most exciting about Season 5 is that it is going to be a season about queer joy. It is not going to be a season about queer trauma," she said. "There are going to be difficulties for the characters and conflict the same way there is for every Bridgerton character. But we are still always grounding our love stories in the fact that this series is about joy."

The release date of Bridgerton Season 5 has not yet been confirmed, but the show is currently in production. Judging from past timelines, this could mean that Bridgerton Season 5 will be released late 2027 or early 2028.

Not yet, Bridgerton Season 5 is still filming. However, Netflix has released an official announcement and a first look at Francesca and Michaela, which you can watch below.

Along with Dodd and Baduza, we can also expect many other Bridgerton characters to return. While nothing has been confirmed, this is likely to include Nicola Coughlan, Jonathan Bailey, Luke Thompson, Yerin Ha, Claudia Jessie, Simone Ashley, Luke Newton, Ruth Gemmell, Florence Hunt, Golda Rosheuvel, Ruby Barker, Adjoa Andoh, Will Tilston, Jessica Madsen and Polly Walker.

"When you spend so much time with a character, you genuinely do want them to be happy. At the moment [Francesca] is in such a devastating position. So I am really looking forward to her feeling like she deserves love," Dodd told Tudum.

In the same interview, Baduza said fans would see Michaela yearning for Francesca, and hopes the queer community feel seen. "What we really want to achieve is giving a realistic view of queer love onscreen and [giving them] a happily ever after. I think [this] is really important for a lot of the queer community to see onscreen, to know it can work out, and that they deserve to also feel love," Baduza said.

With Francesca and Michaela leading Season 5, it's likely that Claudia Jessie's Eloise Bridgerton will lead Bridgerton Season 6. The fan-favourite character has been in the wings for some time, so it will surely be loved by fans.

We'll keep updating this as we receive more details about Bridgerton Season 5, so make sure to bookmark it.