After what feels like a very, very long wait, Bridgerton fans will finally get to see how Penelope Featherington’s engagement to Colin goes down when series three drops on Netflix this week.

Fans of Bridgerton are well used to the sight of poor Penelope Featherington, constantly standing on the sidelines of the ballroom, snubbed and scorned by the eligible bachelors, belittled by her mother and sisters, and this season even abandoned by her only friend.

All the while squirrelling away tidbits for her Lady Whistledown scandal column, of course.

For the singleton, it was a case of always the bridesmaid, never the bride, until now. This week the final four episodes of Bridgerton are released on Netflix and the one-time also-ran is finally the belle of the ball and heading down the aisle with Colin Bridgerton.

And for the actress who plays her, the story is the same. For after a career relegated to the best friend roles and years in the chorus at school plays, Galway-born girl Nicola Coughlan is finally getting her time in the limelight.

“She had a real presence on stage, even back then,” says Caroline Moggan, who taught her at Calasanctius College in Oranmore, near Galway, and had to break the news to a teenage Nicola that she hadn’t been given the lead role in the school musical.

“Even though she hadn’t landed the main part, we would always say there’s no such thing as a small part. When you’re introducing them to the stage, you want pupils to understand what makes the bigger parts look good.”

It was a lesson that clearly stood Nicola in good stead but now the 37-year-old is firmly centre of attention – 45million watched the season three debut in its first weekend alone. The second half is expected to do just as well.

“It doesn’t surprise me at all how well she has done,” adds Caroline, speaking exclusively to the Mirror. “But at the same time, I can’t say I had that foresight early on, just that she had something.”

Caroline taught Nicola History between the ages of 13 and 15 and also helped out with the school musicals – which Nicola loved to take part in.

But Nicola’s love of acting was sparked much earlier, deciding at the tender age of five, after watching her older sister Clodagh in a school play.

Nicola when she was younger

“Nicola was always very positive,” Caroline says. “She was a real open book. She seemed to be able to click with adults and with her peers at the same time. She was happy in her own skin with always a smile and always a ‘hello’.”

She is incredibly proud of how well Nicola has done since. “I have followed her career and I really do think she has done amazing,” she says. “She seems to take it all in her stride. She’s very earthed and I like that about her.”

That down-to-earth girl was born in Galway, Ireland, and grew up in nearby Oranmore with dad Martin, mum Beatrice, Clodagh and older brother Kieran.

Brought up Irish Catholic she made sure her parents were sent a PG version of Bridgerton to watch instead of the usual steamy scenes.

“It’s literally written into my contract,” she said previously. “I grew up Irish Catholic. That’s just not how we vibe.”

Those who remember the final scenes of season three, part one, will know the editors will have their work cut out for Nicola’s personal cut this year. And there’s more steamy scenes with Luke Newton, who plays Colin, ahead.

But while Penelope was already worrying about becoming a spinster three years after making her society debut, Nicola was a normal teenager at school according to Caroline.

“She went through the usual teenage stuff, being giggly and getting used to the boys and stuff like that but she was never difficult at any level,” she says. “She always seemed to be able to go through life without being troublesome or difficult. She was very easy to deal with. A very lovely girl altogether.”

It seems she always had an eye on the future.

“I had these grand notions that I wanted to go off and be an actor…” she once said. “I was always roping my friends into making my own movies and plays.”

And it was her home which she credits with giving her the horizons to aim at.

In 2022 Nicola returned to her hometown for the YouTube documentary Made in Ireland. As she stood looking out to sea, she said: “When you’re stood on the coast in Galway, the next thing you see to the West is America. There’s definitely a sense of possibility. There’s always a sense of open frontiers. I’ve always felt that from here.”

And she has done nothing but find a new frontier every time she conquers one.

Nicola attended the National University of Ireland, Galway and graduated with a degree in English and Classical Civilisation, before training at the Oxford School of Drama then the Birmingham School of Acting.

She shot to fame playing Clare Devlin in Derry Girls, before appearing in various stage and screen shows and finally landing Bridgerton.

She has since even appeared in smash hit film Barbie – wearing a replica of the dress her own childhood doll had.

It started a little smaller of course with her first role when she was aged 10 in action thriller film My Brother’s War. She was able to take the day off school and was paid £30 to feed swans.

At the time she was attending Scoil Mhuire primary school, the place she admitted was “definitely where acting in front of an audience began.”

Ber Keane, acting principal, taught Nicola in 6th class when she was 11 and said the school were all ‘enormously proud of her success’.

“Nicola was a very sociable child during her primary school years,” she tells the Mirror. “It was evident, even at that young age, that she had a great talent for drama and the performing arts. It came very naturally to her, she loved acting in school plays and really came into her own on stage.

“She was a beautiful singer [too].”

Ber also praises Nicola’s attitude to life, adding: “She’s a great role model for our pupils in resilience and determination and a living example to them of how success is down to talent, a little luck and a lot of hard work.”

Nicola has used her fame to help others too, supporting local charities such as children’s hospice Laura Lynn.

It is something Ber partly credits with her early years at the school.

“The motto is ‘Not words but deeds’ and by her fundraising actions for the Laura Lynn charity she has shown how she uses her fame to such good intent.

“That is the living embodiment of the message instilled from her primary school and we are so proud of her in that respect, particularly.”

And while Nicola might now have the Hollywood life so many dream of, there were stumbling blocks along the way as she tried her luck in London but returned to her family home where she worked in opticians Kelly Eye Care and as a waitress.

She shared a photo on Instagram of her days waiting tables and wrote: “During this time I was so desperate to be acting and unsure that I would ever get to. I was really broke and really disheartened.”

But she went on to tell fans not to give up on their dreams and let’s face it, she’s living proof everyone can be the belle of their own ball.