‘Bridgerton’ showrunner Jess Brownell says author Julia Quinn gave her blessing for Francesca’s queer romance

Francesca becomes a more prominent character during season three of the Netflix drama series as she makes her debut in society and seeks a compatible match for marriage. She finds that partner in John Stirling, the Earl of Kilmartin (Victor Alli).

Francesca and John bond through their similarly introverted and reserved dispositions. In the season three finale, they get married in a small ceremony and make arrangements to move to John’s primary estate in Scotland.

In the final episode, while at the Dankworth-Finch ball, Francesca is caught off guard by the arrival of John’s cousin, Michaela Stirling (Masali Baduza), who will be accompanying them to Scotland. When Francesca meets Michaela, she immediately becomes nervous and stutters as she introduces herself.

Fans familiar with Quinn’s “Bridgerton” books, specifically “When He Was Wicked,” already know where Francesca’s story is heading, but the show sets up a different course of events for her.

In the novel, John dies two years into his marriage to Francesca and his cousin Michael Stirling becomes the new earl. Francesca and Michael reconnect years later, get married, and have two children.

Introducing a gender-swapped version of John’s cousin will lead to changes in the TV show. Fans hoping for a by-the-numbers adaptation of Francesca and Michael’s love story may have strong opinions on the queer story, but Brownell isn’t surprised.

“I think something that has been a real growth point for me, stepping into the showrunner role, is that I’ve always been a people pleaser, and someone who wants to give everyone what they want — but in this job, you have to make difficult decisions,” she told Teen Vogue.

Brownell said that as a queer woman, she related to Franceca’s book. She also felt that it was important to incorporate a queer romance into the show that had a happy ending, “which we don’t always get to see in period pieces.”

Brownell, who took over as the showrunner for season three, said that she had been pitching a gender-swapped Michael since season one. When she spoke to Quinn, they discussed the potential backlash.

“We talked about the fact that with almost any single book, there would be a side of the fandom that would be disheartened to see their favorite characters changed,” Brownell said. “I don’t think that there is any book that wouldn’t happen with, so for me, again, it came back to story, and it came back to character. Because Francesca’s book resonated [with me] in the way that it did, it felt like a natural adaptation.”

“Bridgerton” already has a fourth season in the works, but there has yet to be an official announcement about which character’s love story will be next — though there are strong hints that Benedict might be giving up his bachelor ways soon.

Fans will likely have to wait a while before seeing how Francesca and Michaela’s love story unfolds.

The show hasn’t been renewed for additional seasons beyond season four, but Brownell and executive producer Shonda Rhimes already have plans for how they’d tackle future installments. In the case of Francesca, Brownell told The Hollywood Reporter that there “will definitely be a time jump at some point” to adequately show her relationships with John and Michaela.