‘Bridgerton’ Star Gives Update On Season 4 of the Shonda Rhimes Series

Award-winning showrunner Shonda Rhimes—creator of Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal— has done justice to Julia Quinn’s successful novels for her Netflix series Bridgerton.

Since Season 1 of Bridgerton aired on Netflix in 2020, many fans have been obsessing over the series, and some of the show’s characters.

Bridgerton star Jonathan Bailey, who portrays Lord Anthony Bridgerton in the series, recently gave fans an update on the upcoming fourth season.

“I’ve seen the first episode, and it’s phenomenal. It’s really, really good,” Jonathan told TIME. “There’s one shot that happens quite early on in the episode that will blow the fans’ minds. It takes everyone on a journey to new parts of the household… It’s brilliant.”

Bridgerton is set in high society London, centering around the lives of elite families as they navigate under the scrutinizing eye of an anonymous gossip columnist who uses the pseudonym “Lady Whistledown.” 

Lady Whistledown, voiced by Julie Andrews, declared in Season 1 that although her anonymity will be retained, scandals will be entirely exposed. The Lady Whistleblower’s foreshadowing statement, “You do not know me and never shall, but be forewarned, dear reader: I certainly know you,” gives insight into what the series will entail.

For Season 4, the show will “adapt An Offer from a Gentleman, which follows Benedict’s unexpected romance with a mysterious Lady in Silver he encounters at his mother’s masquerade ball. Unknown to him, she is Sophie, a young woman working as servant for one of the families,” according to ComingSoon.net.

Jonathan will be reprising his role as Anthony, but details of his storyline haven’t been unveiled yet. However, his character was featured in the Season of Love trailer for Bridgerton, which came out earlier this year.

The show is based on a series of eight books —one for each sibling. It looks like Bridgerton isn’t stopping anytime soon, as the first part of Season 4 is dropping in January 2026, and the second part in February 2026.

Despite the Julia Quinn novels being classified as romantic novels, Shonda didn’t see them as such.

“I didn’t see it as a romance novel. To me, Bridgerton is a workplace drama. The women have no power in any other areas of their lives,” Shonda said at an Edinburgh TV Festival. “The only place they have power is in who they marry and how they marry, and that marriage is a workplace, and those are colleagues coming together to make sure that their faiths and futures are sealed in a way that is positive for them. Now I know that’s not how you think of it, but that’s how I thought of it.

She added: “More importantly, I could see myself in them. If a black woman in 21st century America can see herself in regency England, it’s a good story.”