Warning: Major spoilers ahead for Bridgerton season 3 and beyond.

IT’S OFFICIAL: PRODUCTION is underway for Bridgerton season four. Season three ranks the highest among fans thus far, but there’s more lust, intrigue and sky-high wigs coming to the ton in season four.

Back in April 2021, Netflix confirmed both seasons three and four of Bridgerton in a special announcement post — an unheard of double renewal by the streaming giant. But with hundreds of millions of fans across the globe — which even led to a Bridgerton prequel series, Queen Charlotte, released between seasons two and three — it’s unsurprising Netflix has full confidence in the future of the Ton. But with Penelope and Colin’s will they/won’t they? saga coming to a close with the end of season three, our eyes (and hearts) are set on a new tantalising couple: Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson) and Sophie Baek, played by Australian actor Yerin Ha.

Now, the streamer have revealed a first look at Thompson and Ha together, and their chemistry is immediately evident — we can’t wait to see the first photos of them in character, which will be sure not to disappoint. Ha shared one of the photos to her own social media, captioning it with the new ‘ship’ name for their characters: ‘Benophie’.

A post shared by @yerinha_

Keep reading for everything we know so far about Bridgerton season four — including the new cast members joining the Ton, and a recap of the end of season three for those who need it.

Related: Where is Francesca Bridgerton’s love story heading?

Related: Everything to know about Bridgerton’s new love interest, Yerin Ha

After season four, Benedict Bridgerton will be a bachelor no more. Confirming the suspicions of many, Netflix confirmed in July 2024 that it’s finally time for the family’s second son to find love. Despite being described by the show’s logline as “in a loath to settle down,” Benedict, played by Luke Thompson, is captured and enraptured by a mysterious Lady in Silver — Ha’s Sophie Baek — at a masquerade ball.

If the novels are anything to go by (and we well know that they are), fans can expect a Cinderella-esque love story between the second-born Bridgerton and Sophie Baek, the daughter of an earl turned servant girl at the hands of her vindictive stepmother. With this focus on Benedict, the show goes back to book three, An Offer From a Gentleman, after shaking up its chronology in the previous season. In the series announcement trailer, Benedict is seen saying, “It feels right now that the next thing may change me entirely.” Could this mean the end of his bohemian days?

“Benedict has always been a little lost — or free, depending on the way you look at it,” Thompson said of his character. “But now he’s trying to find something a bit more solid in himself. According to showrunner Jess Bronwell, we’ll get to see a different side of Benedict in season four, and that she’s excited for where the writing takes him. “There are a lot of things I want to say about it but I probably should wait…” she teased fans.

Speaking to Netflix’s Tudum, Ha and Thompson spoke of the connection they’ve been forming as they begin production on season four.

“What’s striking about Season 4 is that it’s the struggle between a proper old-school fairy tale — the romance of it — and the actual reality of the world,” Thompson says. “And both are true. You have to hold both of them — the romance and the reality — in your hand. In its best version, ‘true love’ happens in the middle of that.”

Ha added that Thompson’s warm greeting upon their first meeting made her confident for their journey ahead, adding that the preparations have felt “playful, freeing, [and] therapautic”. When she met Thompson for the first time for dinner at Brownell’s home, Ha recalls: “I remember Luke stood there with arms wide open, just ready for an embrace … That was the moment I was like, Ah, OK, I don’t need to stress about these little things now. I can just genuinely focus on the on-screen connection with him.” Consider us personally invested in this love story.

In addition to Yerin Ha as Sophie Baek, Benedict’s love interest, Netflix have revealed a handful of new faces coming to the ton in season 4. And if you’re a fan of the Harry Potter films, we’re pleased to tell you that you can expect a familiar face: Katie Leung, who played Cho Chang in the movie adaptations.

Leung will play Lady Araminta Gun, the twice-married and twice-widowed stepmother of Sophie Baek, who treats her stepdaughter as a maid (very Cinderella!). “Araminta has two daughters debuting on the marriage mart this season and she’s feeling the pressure to get at least one of her girls married off. Fabulous, discerning, and blunt, Araminta does not respond well when anything — or anyone — threatens her standing in society,” Netflix hints.

Rosamund Li is Lady Araminta’s eldest daughter, played by Michelle Mao. “Beautiful, vain, and eager to please her mother, Rosamund is Araminta’s eldest daughter and most prized possession. Rosamund sets her sights on Benedict this social season. And, just like her mother, Rosamund is determined to get what she wants,” Netflix describes.

Rosamund’s younger — and kinder — younger sister is Posy Li, played by Isabella Wei, a dancer and actor from Hong Kong. “Araminta rarely puts the spotlight on her second child. Posy’s chatty, overly friendly demeanour often has her putting her foot in her mouth,” Netflix says in their description of her character.

In addition to the Gun family, Tudum revealed that the characters of Alice Mondrich (the wife of Will Mondrich) and Brimsley (Queen Charlotte’s right hand man) will be upgraded from series regulars to be in the main cast for season four — so expect to see a lot more of them.

After Benedict’s steamy dalliance with Tilley and Paul Suarez at the end of season three, questions about an on-screen queer relationship taking centre-stage began to flood the show. “Benedict’s sexual identity is not a fixed belief for him. In modern terms, he might be described as pansexual, someone for whom gender doesn’t really matter,” Bronwell said of the character, confirming his fluid sexuality.

Although the introduction of the Lady in Silver may have left fans hoping for a Benedict-centred queer love story disappointed, that doesn’t necessarily mean the cards are completely off the table for this season. Instead, it seems that eager viewers are rooting for another character — the newly wed Francesca Bridgerton.

Though she has indeed found true love with husband John Stirling, there’s no denying the magnetic chemistry she experienced when meeting his cousin, Michaela Stirling. To add even more fuel to the fire is confirmation that in season four, Francesca and John are set to journey to the Scottish Highlands — accompanied by none other than Eloise and Michaela. And of course, the character Michaela herself is a gender-swapped version of the original character Michael from Julia Quinn’s novel When He Was Wicked. Like always, Bronwell has been coy, stating, “Bridgerton book readers will know what it means when Francesca meets Michaela at the end of season three. You’ll just have to wait and see, going forward, what we do with that.”

Suffice to say, fans are more than hoping Francesca will pave the way for the franchise’s first sapphic romance (after a gay romance played out in Queen Charlotte). One person wrote on Twitter: “francesca was already the IT girl and now she’s gay ??? ohhhh i’m seated #bridgerton.” While another enthusiastically said: “WELCOME MASALI BADUZA AS MICHAELA STIRLING WE ARE SO SO SO HAPPY AND DELIGHTED TO SEE HOW YOUR BEAUTIFUL LOVE STORY WITH FRANCESCA WILL PLAY OUT.”

Speaking to Pride in April, Bronwell said, “This is a show about love in its many forms, and I think that it’s only right for us to foreground queer love and to tell queer stories. I want to see more queer joy on my screens, and that was definitely a priority for me when I stepped into the showrunner role.”

She further elaborated during a recent interview with Glamour UK, emphasising the need for a gender-bending approach to the source material of the hit series. “Queer audiences haven’t gotten the chance to see themselves represented in a major way on the show, which is a show that is in so many other ways so inclusive,” Brownell explained. “So I would just ask people to channel some empathy for those viewers, and to understand the importance of us allowing those viewers to see themselves represented.”

Meanwhile, some have questioned whether Eloise may also find romance with another woman — especially given her chemistry with Cressida this season. But Brownell seems to hint that path would be unlikely, as the intention was more about highlighting the validity of women who don’t prioritise romance.

“When we talked about it in the room, we felt like it was powerful actually that Eloise’s resistance to romance isn’t about her not having discovered the right gender so much as it is an authentic representation of the fact that she’s more interested in cerebral pursuits at this stage of her life,” Brownell explained to The Hollywood Reporter. “I wanted to hold space for that because not every young woman is solely interested in romance. That’s not to say that Eloise won’t open up to love in the future, but for now, that’s I think, where she’s at.”

Related: What will Francesca Bridgerton’s love story be?

Bridgerton season four will have eight episodes.

We hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Bridgerton season four is likely a few years away. Observing previous seasons, Bridgerton has a two-year gap between each season: season one was released in December 2020, season two was released in March 2022 and season three in May 2024.

Showrunner Jess Brownell told The Hollywood Reporter that while they’re trying to speed things up between season, there’s a lot to factor in with such a high-level production.

“We are working to try and put the seasons out more quickly, but they do take eight months to film and then they have to be edited, and then they have to be dubbed into every language,” she shared. “And the writing takes a very long time as well, so we’re kind of on a two-year pace, we’re trying to speed up but somewhere in that range.”

At this point in time, it seems likely Bridgerton season four will, at the earliest, hit Netflix in the latter half of 2025, or possibly early 2026. Rest assured though, it’ll be well worth the wait. Brownell, who also revealed that show writers have just about finished writing the script, shared it’s the franchise’s “best” work to date.

“I’m really excited about what we’re writing. We’re towards the end with the writers room season, with the scripts,” she shared. “And I feel like it’s some of my best work and my writers room’s best work. We’ve just really gelled our collaboration, and we’re firing on all cylinders, so I can’t wait for fans to see what we have.”

For those who have forgotten, Bridgerton season three was all about the long-awaited friends-to-lovers arc of Polin — Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) and Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton), that is.

For a quick recap, during the final episodes of season three, we see Penelope and Colin finally achieve their happily-ever-after, though not without a little Bridgerton drama. Just before the big day, Colin discovers that his fiancée is the audacious gossip columnist, Lady Whistledown. Though he feels betrayed by her secret, and even after Penelope selflessly tells him to call off their engagement, Colin commits to marrying her — but it’s clear he still has some reservations about their impending marital union.

After a blackmail bid by Cressida, Penelope funds an opulent ball for her sisters, where she reveals to the rest of the Ton that she is Lady Whistledown, and begs for everyone’s forgiveness for how her gossip column affected many of them. The Queen accepts her apology, and offers permission for Penelope to continue writing as Lady Whistledown — albeit, “more responsibly.” So no, dearest reader, it’s not the end of Whistledown’s words, but the start of a new era of truth — “into the light,” as the episode title hints.

Fast-forward a year, and Colin and Penelope are now living their best lives. They welcome a son, who becomes the heir to the Featherington dynasty, and it’s all happily-ever-after at last for the new family.

Also in the finale, Francesca Bridgerton (the sixth Bridgerton child, played by Hannah Dodd) ties the knot with John Stirling (Victor Alli), after making her society debut earlier in the season. The pair leave for the Scottish Highlands, where he reigns as the Earl of Kilmartin. Excited at the prospect of new adventures, independent older sister Eloise Bridgerton (Claudia Jessie) asks to join the couple at their new home — which suits John rather well, as he was also planning on asking his cousin to live there too. Ahead of their big move, he introduces his new wife Francesca to his cousin, Michaela Stirling (Masali Baduza) — an introduction which tingles with a faint touch of electricity, it seems.

Related: Queen Charlotte is the diamond of all Bridgerton seasons