With its forbidden romance between Benedict Bridgerton and Sophie Baek, Season 4 of Netflix’s Bridgerton was a hit. The season just wrapped up on Feb. 26, but fans who are hungry for more don’t need to worry whether we’ll be getting a Season 5 — it was confirmed long ago (along with Season 6) in May 2025. And now that four of the eight Bridgerton siblings are paired off, we can probably expect at least four more seasons to come. But who will lead Bridgerton Season 5? Spoiler alert: Spoilers for Bridgerton Season 4 follow.
If you’re a die-hard Bridgerton fan, then you know each season has been based on one of the books by romance author Julia Quinn. In that case, you’d also know that the seasons aren’t always completely reflective of the books — especially when it comes to the events’ timeline. For example, Season 3 is actually based off of the fourth book, while Season 4 is based off of the third novel. With that being said, it can’t be denied that there’s a possibility of Season 5 shaking things up again, and fans are already speculating.
TWIST ON THE Bridgerton BOOKS
In the official book series, it’s Eloise whose love story is the main plot of book five, with Francesca’s being the center of book six, so it would be supposed that that’s the order that the show will follow. However, while sporting a pocket square with the initials E and F on the red carpet of Season 4’s Paris premiere, showrunner Jess Brownell hinted at a switch-up. While she confirmed to Deadline that Eloise and Francesca’s stories will be the center of the next two seasons, she didn’t confirm the exact order. “Both characters with the initials on my pocket square will get seasons in five and six. In what order, I can’t say,” she said.
THE Bridgerton Season 5 THEORY
Naturally, fans are now wondering whether it’ll actually be Francesca’s story that we follow most closely in Season 5. To confirm this theory, speculators are pointing to Brownell’s comment at the Jan 14. premiere, and the fact that the order of the events from the books has been switched before on the show, with Season 3 and Season 4.
Additionally, while Francesca just lost her husband John this past season, Brownell told Bustle that there will likely be a time jump whenever Francesca’s season comes along. She stated, “It’s very important for Francesca to take a significant amount of time to grieve for John, because he is genuinely so important to her, and is one of her great loves. So it’s important to me that he gets his proper time before she finds great love with Michaela.” So maybe it’s not too far-fetched to think that Francesca will fall in love with Michaela next season knowing that it’ll be some time since John’s death has passed. This would also account for the fact that Michaela left London at the end of Season 4, since it would give her some time to leave and come back.
ELOISE’S SUSPICIOUS STATEMENT
These points about Francesca do seem like pretty good evidence, but there are still some signs pointing to next season being all about Eloise. For example, Eloise’s running streak of being against marriage and committed to a life on her own began to wear out in Season 4, with her stating at the end of the season, “I can see that, on occasion, marriage might have its advantages — companionship, family, a prime seat at a soirée. And then, if not for mother and father’s marriage, we would not all have each other, which seems a rather large reward. Most of the time, anyway.” This seems like a prime line showing that Eloise has opened up to the possibility of getting married, which would make it perfect timing for her to meet the love of her life in the next season.
So was Brownell’s hint that Francesca may be the star of Season 5 just a fun red carpet tidbit, or will we really see her find true love next season? Either way, fans will be elated to see both of these Bridgerton sisters sail off into the sunset — even if one gets her happy ending before the other.