Bridgerton Star Reveals Season 1 Originally Had Different Ending

Bridgerton has been a bonafide hit for Netflix.

It launched in December and soared to become Netflix's biggest-ever original series with almost 90 million viewers around the globe.

The first season concluded thrillingly, revealing that Nicola Coughlan's Penelope Featherington was gossip columnist Lady Whistledown.

However, it has now been revealed that the revelation was not supposed to be revealed that early and that there was initially a very different ending in mind.

Coughlan appeared alongside her co-stars during a Bridgerton panel at Netflix's TUDUM event over the weekend, and well, we're surprised.

"They didn't know they were going to reveal it in season one," Coughlan dished.

"They had changed back and forward a few times, they were going to do a red herring.

"It was a reshoot in July, so they had filmed a different ending. They were going to make it seem like it was Cressida Cowper."

The good news is that the development allowed Penelope's storyline to grow more intense on the second season.

"How do I say this without being a spoiler? It's very satisfying, what happens with Penelope, in season 2," she teased.

Coughlan also revealed she was not familiar with the book series and found out Lady Whistledown's identity on a forum for the show.

"I found out in a bizarre way, because when we auditioned, we knew very little about the show," the star shared.

"It was only after getting cast that then I found out, and I found out on an internet fan forum, because I realized that there was this huge, huge fandom behind these books."

"It was like this whole other world opened up, but they were like, 'When Penelope is revealed as Lady Whistledown...' and I went 'WHAT?'"

"Getting cast in a Shondaland Netflix show was major, but that's so much more major than I ever could have imagined," Coughlan continued.

Indeed, it was a shocker, and it's nice to know that the big reveal has already occurred, meaning we should prepare for a different second season.

We already know Simone Ashley and Jonathan Bailey will be at the center of Bridgerton Season 2 as Kate Sharma and Anthony Bridgerton, respectively.

As previously reported, the series will be following the books and will be giving fans a fresh new couple for the forthcoming season, which has been pushed to 2022.

Watch the extended TUDUM panel for the show below.

Paul Dailly was an Associate Editor for TV Fanatic.Follow him on X.