After a month-long wait, the second half of Bridgerton season 3<\/a> is now upon us and as well as navigating the impending nuptials of Penelope (Nicola Coughlan<\/a>) and Colin (Luke Newton<\/a>), there\u2019s plenty of other storylines to dig into in the new episodes.<\/p>\n Not least, the matter of Benedict Bridgerton<\/a> (Luke Thompson) and his newfound relationship with Lady Tilley Arnold (Hannah New)<\/a>. Although the older Bridgerton son meets Lady Tilley in the first half of season 3, fans have since been enjoying Benedict\u2019s queer storyline in part 2 as he explores his sexuality with another partner, Paul Suarez (Lucas Aurelio).<\/p>\n Speaking about having the opportunity to explore his character\u2019s sexuality in part 2, Thompson told Bustle<\/a>: \u201cHe seems to approach his feelings in a spirit of curiosity. There\u2019s very little angst about it. It\u2019s refreshing to see someone tackle that side of themselves without anxiety about who they are and what it means.\u201d<\/p>\n Although Benedict\u2019s sexuality has long been the subject of much fan speculation over the years, Thompson also added: \u201cMale sexuality, particularly, can feel boxy in the way that it\u2019s explored. Let\u2019s be clear, it was an extremely repressive period.<\/p>\n \u201cBy our modern terms, the closest [descriptor] would be something along the lines of pansexuality \u2014 being attracted to the way that someone thinks and feels, regardless of gender. That\u2019s a word that could be used. But what\u2019s refreshing about it, certainly in the way that it\u2019s being discovered at the moment, is that there is a sense of labelless-ness about it.\u201d<\/p>\n Read more:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n And Benedict isn\u2019t the only Bridgerton whose romantic developments have since sent the fanbase into an excited spiral, with the season 3 finale also giving us a glimpse of some of the romantic tension brewing between Francesca (Hannah Dodd) and Lord John Stirling\u2019s (Victor Alli) cousin, Michaela (Masali Baduza).<\/p>\n While only a brief glimpse at what could come in the future, Thompson said of Francesca\u2019s future love interest being Michaela, instead of Michael as in the original Julia Quinn novel: \u201cTo welcome positive, happy queer love storylines [that aren\u2019t] all about angst or tragedy or things going wrong, it\u2019s a really lovely thing.\u201d<\/p>\n The season finished on quite the high for both Bridgerton characters, with Thompson\u2019s Benedict breaking things off with Lady Tilley in favour of being \u201cfree\u201d and thanking her for opening up his world. Similarly, Francesca rides off in a carriage with her new husband, his cousin and Eloise to live a more quiet life in the Scottish Highlands.<\/p>\n For now, fans have been left to wonder just which Bridgerton sibling will next take on the role of series lead but eagle-eyed fans will have picked up on the masquerade ball hint dropped by Benedict in the finale. The mention of his mother\u2019s masquerade ball is actually how Benedict\u2019s book, An Offer From a Gentleman, begins when he meets new romantic interest Sophie Beckett.<\/p>\n While the new series lead is yet to be confirmed, we do know that work on the new season is currently underway but that fans will just have to bide their time until it lands on our screens.<\/p> Showrunner Jess Brownell recently confirmed that season 4 won\u2019t be hitting Netflix until 2026 but admitted that \u201cwe are working to try and put the seasons out more quickly\u201d.<\/p>\n She told\u00a0The Hollywood Reporter<\/a>: \u201cBut they do take eight months to film and then they have to be edited, and then they have to be dubbed into every language.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd then writing takes a very long time as well, so we\u2019re kind of on a two-year pace, we\u2019re trying to speed up but somewhere in the range.\u201d<\/p>\n Here\u2019s to waiting patiently for more Benedict Bridgerton developments, then!<\/p>\n Bridgerton seasons 1-3 are available to watch on\u00a0<\/strong>Netflix<\/a>\u00a0now.\u00a0<\/strong>You can buy the\u00a0Bridgerton book series on Amazon<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n Check out more of our\u00a0Drama<\/a>\u00a0coverage or visit our\u00a0TV Guide<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Streaming Guide<\/a>\u00a0to find out what\u2019s on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to\u00a0The Radio Times Podcast<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n Bridgerton season 3 part 2 sees Benedict explore his sexuality, paving the way for his own love story. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":53246,"template":"","categories":[1,5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/06\/bridgertons-luke-thompson-reacts-to-benedicts-queer-storyline-its-really-lovely-scaled.jpg",2560,1707,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/06\/bridgertons-luke-thompson-reacts-to-benedicts-queer-storyline-its-really-lovely-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/06\/bridgertons-luke-thompson-reacts-to-benedicts-queer-storyline-its-really-lovely-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/06\/bridgertons-luke-thompson-reacts-to-benedicts-queer-storyline-its-really-lovely-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/06\/bridgertons-luke-thompson-reacts-to-benedicts-queer-storyline-its-really-lovely-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/06\/bridgertons-luke-thompson-reacts-to-benedicts-queer-storyline-its-really-lovely-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/06\/bridgertons-luke-thompson-reacts-to-benedicts-queer-storyline-its-really-lovely-2048x1365.jpg",2048,1365,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Bridgerton season 3 part 2 sees Benedict explore his sexuality, paving the way for his own love story.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/53245"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53246"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Lucas](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2024\/06\/Bridgerton-s3-Luke-Thompson-75ba83d.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413\" "\\"Bridgerton-s3-Luke-Thompson\\"\/")
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