Picture Credit: Netflix
It’s official: Bridgerton Season 5 will portray the show’s first-ever queer romance between Francesca Bridgerton (Hannah Dodd) and Michaela Stirling (Masali Baduza). Does that confirm that Season 6 will finally follow Claudia Jessie’s fan-favorite, Eloise? The short answer: Yes.
In March 2026, Netflix announced that the leads of Bridgerton Season 5 are Francesca Bridgerton (Hannah Dodd) and Michaela Stirling (Masali Baduza). The news wasn’t a major surprise after Season 4 covered a large chunk of Julia Quinn’s sixth Bridgerton novel, When He Was Wicked, which tells Francesca’s story. It laid a solid foundation for the story to come. However, many fans figured that after Francesca’s harrowing arc in Season 4 — in which she lost her beloved husband John Stirling — the show would give her character time to breathe and move onto Eloise’s story. What’s more, Eloise’s novel, To Sir Phillip, With Love, is the fifth novel in the book continuity, so airing sooner would’ve been logical.
So far, Bridgerton seasons have mostly followed the structure of the novels, with a couple of remixes along the way. Both of the opening two seasons depicted the first two romances of the novels: Daphne and Simon, and Anthony and Kate. However, for Season 3, the show covered Colin & Penelope, a story that was told after Benedict and Sophie in the books. Season 5 marks another switch-up to the structure of the novels.
Netflix has not officially confirmed that Eloise will be the lead of Season 6, but it is a certainty. The crew behind the show have already said as much. Perhaps the most concrete confirmation came from showrunner Jess Brownell, who sported a pocket square with the initials E and F embroidered on it during the Season 4 premiere event. “I would say both characters with the initials on my pocket square will get seasons in 5 and 6,” she told Deadline. “In what order, I can’t say.” Fast forward to today, and we have confirmation that Francesca is the lead Season 5, paving the way for Eloise to finally become the main character in Season 6.
Brownell has already teased some details about Eloise’s season. She hinted at Kate (Simone Ashley) playing a significant role. “I also am really partial to the relationship between Kate and Eloise. That’s something that I’d like to continue following in the future,” she told PEOPLE magazine. “So when we eventually get to Eloise’s season, Kate is someone I’ll be very interested to have around, if I can.”
What is Eloise’s story?
Covered in the the fifth novel in Julia Quinn’s series, To Sir Phillip, With Love, Eloise’s romance is with Sir Phillip Crane, a character who was briefly introduced into the show in seasons 1 and 2, played by Scottish actor Chris Fulton. After the death of Marina Thompson, Eloise sends her condolences, and unwittingly becomes engaged in exchanging letters with Sir Phillip Crane. Their back-and-forth correspondences occurs for over a year, until Eloise ultimately travels to his secluded estate in Gloucestershire.
Check out the official synopsis of To Sir Phillip, With Love:
Sir Phillip knew from his correspondence with his dead wife’s distant cousin that Eloise Bridgerton was a spinster, and so he’d proposed, figuring that she’d be homely and unassuming, and more than a little desperate for an offer of marriage. Except . . . she wasn’t. The beautiful woman on his doorstep was anything but quiet, and when she stopped talking long enough to close her mouth, all he wanted to do was kiss her…
Eloise Bridgerton couldn’t marry a man she had never met! But then she started thinking… and wondering… and before she knew it, she was in a hired carriage in the middle of the night, on her way to meet the man she hoped might be her perfect match. Except… he wasn’t. Her perfect husband wouldn’t be so moody and ill-mannered. And he certainly should have mentioned that he had two young – and decidedly unruly – children, as much in need of a mother as Phillip is in need of a wife.
To Sir Phillip With Love Bridgerton Season 3 Part 2 Netflix
Eloise’s story could be partially told in Bridgerton Season 5
As much as Bridgerton Season 4 told the romance between Benedict and Sophie, it also focused heavily on laying the groundwork for Francesca’s romance. In fact, it adapted a lot of key moments from the beginning of her novel When He Was Wicked, such as her marriage to John Stirling, his death, and the subsequent introduction of his cousin Michaela Stirling, who’s there to comfort Francesca in her time of grief. These are the catalyst moments in Francesca’s story.
Looking ahead to Season 5, we can expect Bridgerton to drop similar key moments in Eloise’s story. It’s likely that Eloise will begin exchanging letters with Sir Phillip. It is expected to be a major subplot, setting her up to be the lead for Season 6.
Which Bridgerton siblings will lead seasons 7 and 8?
After season 6, Bridgerton will continue way into the 2030s. The show will then have the final two Bridgerton siblings to take the lead: Hyacinth and Gregory.
- Season 7: Hyacinth (Florence Hunt) — Adapting It’s in His Kiss, Hyacinth falls in love with Lady Danbury’s grandson, Gareth St. Clair.
- Season 8: Gregory (Will Tilston) — Adapting On the Way to the Wedding, it follows the youngest sibling, Gregory, who finds true love with Lucy Abernathy, but she’s engaged to another.
When will Bridgerton Season 6 air?
Bridgerton Season 5 is currently filming, with a release date estimated for late 2027 or early 2028. Season 6 will begin filming immediately after; a release of 2029 or 2030 seems likely.
Are you more excited for the romances of Francesca or Eloise? Tell us in the comments down below!
