“We’re playing with different ideas,” Jess Brownell tells TheWrap

While the “Bridgerton” Season 3 finale left Julie Andrews’ future involvement as the voice of Lady Whistledown uncertain, showrunner Jess Brownell said the team is playing with “different ideas” to keep Andrews around now that Nicola Coughlan’s Penelope has found her voice.
Julie-Andrews-Bridgerton
“It’s Julie Andrews — I’m obsessed with her,” Brownell told TheWrap. “I would hate to lose her from the show.”

The Season 3 finale saw Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) reveal her secret identity as Lady Whistledown in front of the ton, and, by the end of the episode, Penelope bids farewell to her literary persona, signing her next column as Penelope Featherington, rather than Lady Whistledown. Though Andrews’ voice as Whistledown shifted to Coughlan’s Penelope in the finale, marking a shift for the Netflix series, plans for future installments have not been set in stone.

“While she is, in many ways, the voice of Penelope when she was trying to hide herself, I also think she’s just become so iconic as the voice of Lady Whistledown,” Brownell said. “So we’re playing with different ideas in Season 4, and people have to wait and see where we go with that.”

The Netflix romance series strays from Julia Quinn’s novels, which see Penelope giving up her column after her identity is revealed, meaning Lady Whistledown is not present in future novels following “Romancing Mister Bridgerton,” which tells Penelope and Colin’s love story.

Brownell explained the change, noting that after a season during which Penelope discovered the importance of her power and came into the spotlight, giving up Whistledown entirely might have felt like a “down note,” saying “I think that there’s more to come with Lady Whistledown.”

“Now Pen will have to navigate what it’s like to be a public gossip columnist, not only dealing with the people she writes about, but also taking steps to be more accountable in what she writes,” Brownell said. “I think accountability and authenticity are two things that she’s had to really face this season, and we’re gonna continue that thread going into Season 4.”

“Bridgerton” Season 3 is now streaming on Netflix.