At a Bridgerton fan event in London last week – moderated by Queen Charlotte star Golda Rosheuvel – audiences were treated to more than a few tantalising details about the upcoming fourth season of the hit Netflix show.

Season four is set to follow the second-eldest Bridgerton son Benedict (played by Luke Thompson), and will introduce brand new characters and locations, whilst also holding up for closer inspection the familiar faces we’ve come to know and love from the series.

Who is in Bridgerton season 4?

Showrunner Jess Brownell highlighted that at the end of season three, Benedict feels that he is missing something in his life. His brothers, Anthony and Colin (played by Wicked star Jonathan Bailey and Luke Newton, respectively) are now both married, and will appear with their new families at the start of this season.

“[In this season] Colin is a wife guy”, joked Jess. “He and Penelope are both pretty happy”.

Breakout star Nicola Coughlan will also reprise her role of Penelope Bridgerton alongside Simone Ashley as Kate Bridgerton. Plus, fans will get a glimpse at both couple’s babies!

But what of Benedict Bridgerton? Well, as fans of the Julia Quinn novels will know, this series introduces a brand new love interest for the bachelor in the shape of Sophie Baek, played by Yerin Ha.

Speaking about joining the hugely popular series, Yerin told fans that her audition landed late in the casting process.

“My agent told me I needed to send in a tape within 24 hours”, she recounted. “A few days later I got a callback, and then a couple days later I was on a Zoom with Luke – and the next thing I know I’m on a plane to London”.

Sophie will arrive in tow with the household of Lady Araminta Gao, played by Harry Potter star Katie Leung. She’s basically Cinderella – an Earl’s daughter who is forced to work for Araminta and her two daughters Rosamund and Posy, following the death of her father.

“Rosamund and Araminta are some of the biggest villains in the Bridgerton books”, Jess shared. “[In the show] they are still villains… but it was really important to us to humanise those characters and understand why they are making decisions that we might not agree with.”

What is Bridgerton season 4 about?

But, of course, the main focus of season four will be Benedict’s love story with Sophie, who comes into his life inadvertently at Lady Violet Bridgerton’s masquerade ball, confirmed to take place throughout episode one of the season.

“In every season we try to look at different tropes within the romantic genre, and this year it’s all about forbidden love… that class clash [between Benedict and Sophie] gives us a very serious obstacle and the stakes could not be higher”, Jess affirmed.

While Violet Bridgerton’s masquerade ball will be a ceremony of pomp and refinement (inspired by William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, according to Jess), we’ll also travel out of The Ton to the countryside and to Benedict’s cottage.

“Can I say cottage?” Jess told adoring fans via livestream and in a press conference when talking about specific scenes from season four.

“And maybe within striking distance of that cottage there’s a lake [and] it’s entirely possible that Benedict might want to go for a swim”, referring to the famous book scene in which Sophie spies Benedict swimming naked.

Jess also highlighted that some changes will be made to the series from the book, including to Benedict’s character who she described as “more delicate and thoughtful” in his interactions with Sophie.

Additionally, Bridgerton season four will see Golda Rosheuvel reprise her role of Queen Charlotte, whose relationship with confidante Lady Agatha Danbury (Adjoa Andoh) will be a big focus of this series.

The Queen must further contend with the fact that Lady Whistledown has now been unmasked, and so she must find a way to co-exist with Penelope Bridgerton whose anonymous gossip papers fuelled much of the drama in the past three seasons.

Jess also confirmed that season four would dig into the lives of the servants of The Ton, providing an unprecedented insight into characters from past seasons who have often faded into the background – like Mrs. Wilson, the Bridgertons’ housekeeper, and Footman John.

Echoing those sentiments, Yerin confirmed that because of the “upstairs, downstairs influence this season, it’s gonna bring kind of a fresh energy to the show”.

When is Bridgerton season 4 coming out?

Unfortunately, one thing that did not come up is Bridgerton season four’s official release date.

Given that production is still ongoing, it’s likely the series will drop in 2026, possibly around Valentine’s Day. However, there’s a glimmer of hope it may receive another Christmas-time transmission date this year!