In case you needed any more reasons to be excited about the upcoming fifth season of “Bridgerton,” the show just gave you three beautiful Black ones. And trust us when we tell you, the announcement has folks on the internet beaming with excitement.
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The show will be heading in a completely different direction in the new season, as it will center around the budding romance between Lady Francesca Stirling and her late husband John’s cousin, Michaela Stirling—marking the show’s first season revolving around a queer love story. Michaela is also a Black woman, which means we’ll get to see more of her family and essentially some more melanin about the “ton.”
This is where the excitement comes in as Netflix recently announced three new Black cast members who are set to join the show: Tega Alexander, Jacqueline Boatswain Headshot and Gemma Knight Jones.
“It is with great pleasure this author announces the arrival of three new faces this season,” the official Bridgerton account posted in part on Wednesday.
For his role, Alexander will take on Christopher Anderson, son of Lord Anderson—a “Regency-era Casanova” who could give the Bridgerton bachelors a run for their money. Yet behind his cheeky facade lies a current of self-doubt that threatens to unravel him. Alexander’s previous roles include stints on “Mobland” and “The Sandman.”
Boatswain’s Helen Stirling will serve as Michaela’s mother and the very source of her spirit. Like any mama, she seeks to guide (and occasionally push) her daughter through London’s social season, with equal measures of vivaciousness and tough love. If her name sounds familiar, you may remember her from “The Diplomat” or “Anansi Boys.”
As for Jone’s role, she’ll be portraying Lady Elizabeth Ashworth, an old friend of Michaela’s who serves as her confidante and London guide. But beneath Elizabeth’s playful charm lies a grounded realist who is wise to the unspoken rules of society. She was previously featured in shows like “Mobland” and “Andor.”
Now that the popular (and predominantly white) show is about to get a burst of Blackness, people online couldn’t help but speak up once they got the word of the new castings!
“S5 abt to be so black they probably gonna do a orchestral cover of the wobble at one of the dances,” wrote one user on X/Twitter.
“Dear gentle readers, it appears the n****s are flooding the tonn,” joked another in a post akin to the famous (or infamous, depending on how you feel about her) Lady Whistledown.
“Season 5 of bridgerton gonna be black excellence,” one other user wrote in part.
Others took time to show the casting directors a little love for giving them three great new reasons to watch the new season.
Added another: “Give the Bridgerton casting directors another Emmy for finding the most stunning black people I have ever seen!”
On Instagram, similar sentiments were expressed, with one user writing: “Yes love seeing more Black people on Bridgerton.”
One other user on TikTok said: “Have you lot seen the absolute the absolutely stupendous confectionary that’s been cast in the next season of Bridgerton? Should I start screaming or what? They need to drop that season tomorrow!”
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