Season three of Bridgerton has just been released on Netflix, and whilst we are all thrilled to see favs Colin and Penelope have their moment, a lot of us are wondering why the show has changed the order of the books it is based on.

There have been rumours circulating online that the decision was made in order to bring Nicola Coughlan’s leading season forward, in fear that she will get too booked and busy to film in the future. It’s understandable why people might think this, as Regé-Jean Page became a huge success after season one and then never returned, but Bridgerton has never confirmed this as a factor in the decision.

Nicola posted on Instagram shortly after it was announced her character Penelope would be the lead of season three, and said she has “no say” in decisions to do with the storytelling or order of the seasons.

“I will never have any say over storylines, what order stories are going in, what’s on posters, who’s on posters, who’s doing what press,” she said. “That’s way beyond my skill set. I’m there to do the acting and, you know, I don’t have a choice in most things.”

via Netflix

The Bridgerton showrunner has spoken about why the show has changed the order of the books

Bridgerton showrunner Jess Brownell told Variety the audience is ready for the Polin era, and said it’s “their time” now.  “I really feel like it’s Colin and Penelope’s time. Because we’ve been watching both of these actors on our screens since season one, we’ve already invested in them a little bit. We know who they are as people,” she said.

“I feel like, especially in the last season, there are these moments of tension between them where it’s like, Colin walks up to the line of almost realising that Penelope has feelings for him but doesn’t quite get there. Instead of treading water on that dynamic, we wanted to push it into their season. It really felt like the perfect moment to tee it up.”

People on Reddit have been theorising the decision further, and think Benedict’s popularity plays a key part. They think because we all love Benedict so much, Bridgerton creator Shonda Rhimes is gatekeeping his story, to keep us on our toes. “It’s definitely to keep Benedict around as long as possible,” one person claimed.

Others said they think the Colin and Penelope story is more “ready” whereas we need more time to see Benedict develop as a character, before seeing his story in full.

Either way, Polin will forever have my heart.