It’s been a long few months for Bridgerton fans. The early months of the year brought about a wave of updates on the fourth season, thanks in large part to Netflix’s Valentine’s Day Bridgerton event. This included our first look at the upcoming fourth season as well as a wave of updates on where the season will take us and what we can expect.
In the months since, we’ve gotten a few updates here and there. However, it’s been relatively quiet since the show wrapped filming in late June. Well, that has finally changed!
During an appearance at the Edinburgh Film Festival, Bridgerton executive producer Shonda Rhimes gifted fans with their biggest update we’ve gotten in a long time.
Shonda Rhimes is committed to 8 seasons of Bridgerton
The first reveal Rhimes offered up was a continued commitment to telling the Bridgerton story over an eight-season run. When asked how many seasons the show would run, Rhimes confirmed that the plan is for there to be “exactly eight.”
As has always been the plan, the goal is for the show to run for eight seasons with each season focusing on one of the eight Bridgerton children.
“The Bridgerton series is eight children. Violet Bridgerton and all eight of her children married. So every season is a child,” Rhimes told moderator Mishal Husain via Express.
Book fans know that the Bridgerton series by Julia Quinn indeed consists of eight books within the core franchise; however, there are many spinoffs and companion books that Quinn has written to expand the franchise to 17 books in total. From the beginning, Rhimes has been very vocal that the goal is to tell an eight-season arc, and that doesn’t appear to have changed at all.
Thankfully, Netflix seems equally committed to the franchise. Season 4 is coming in 2026, and Netflix has already ordered two additional seasons of the show with seasons 5 and 6 already announced. Season 4 will tell the story of Benedict and his love interest, Sophie Beckett, while seasons 5 and 6 are expected to center around Eloise and Francesca Bridgerton, though it’s unknown which of the Bridgerton sisters will take center stage in the seasons.
There could be more Bridgerton spinoffs
In addition to reaffirming her plans for an eight-season run for Bridgerton, Rhimes also teased that there is indeed a “possibility for spin-offs.” Although she didn’t specify what those spinoffs could possibly be, there are a few options.
There have been whispers of a second season of the show’s first spinoff, Queen Charlotte. Series star Adjoa Andoh teased that another season was in the works. The news made complete sense as Queen Charlotte was a breakout hit for Netflix and met with rave reviews from fans and critics alike.
Although the show did tell a complete story and worked perfectly as a limited series, it also left the door open for an additional season of the prequel series by introducing several plot lines left unresolved just enough to give the show’s writers the chance to expand the stories.
In addition to Queen Charlotte’s story, the Bridgerton book series has also inspired a series of Lady Whistledown anthologies, and Quinn also penned a spinoff series via the Rokesby Series, which included four books and told the stories of the aristocratic Rokesby family who lived next door to the Bridgertons during the late 1700s.
A Rokesby spinoff could be a perfect addition to the franchise and serve as another opportunity to expand Bridgerton beyond the show’s core storyline. This is a show that could easily release during Bridgerton’s run or following its conclusion, mirroring the approach Starz has taken with Outlander and its spinoff.
Speaking of prequels, there is also the opportunity to do a spinoff that tells the love story of Violet and Edmund Bridgerton. This is a series many fans have expressed interest in, and it would be a perfect fit for the franchise. It could take a similar approach to Queen Charlotte in weaving in characters from the present-day series to tell the tale of a young Violet and how she came to fall in love with Edmund.
Shonda Rhimes calls Bridgerton season 4 a ‘Cinderella’ story with a twist
Of course, as we wait to see what the future holds for the franchise, we do have a new season to look forward to with season 4 coming in 2026. The season will adapt the third book in Quinn’s franchise, An Offer from a Gentleman.
Benedict’s story puts a spin on the classic Cinderella story and Rhimes is eager for fans to see how that story weaves into the world created in Netflix’s hit series.
“The storyline is a bit of a twist on ‘Cinderella.’ You remember being told those stories as a child - the magic and the romance of them. It’s really exciting to have that weaved into the world that we know of Bridgerton… It’s such a great story, but it’s also, I hope, really relatable.”
Fans are eager to see how the creative team adapts Benedict and Sophie’s storyline, and Rhimes and her team have teased that the new season will be incredibly close to the book. This is something book fans are surely going to appreciate, especially after season 3 was forced to take so many creative changes to fit the evolution of the franchise and its key players.
While the show will pull from the books as always, that doesn’t mean we can’t expect some fun changes along the way , and there’s no telling what Rhimes and the Shondaland team have planned for season 4!