Nicola Coughlan reveals empowering reason she got ‘very naked’ for Bridgerton scene in new season

Part one of Bridgerton's third season is now available to stream on Netflix and we cannot believe the day has finally come.

The luckiest among us have been able to gobble up all of the episodes before you could say 'the Ton', while the other half are watching the minutes drag by before they can head home and get their feet up.

The third season of Bridgerton centres around Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) and her friends-to-lovers pipeline with Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton).

Real romance lovers know that friends-to-lovers is the best TV trope there is.

The most heart stopping part of the trailer was when Colin said to Penelope: "If a husband is what you seek, then let me help you."

It gets my pulse racing even now.

With people having sunk their teeth into the first half of this season of Bridgerton already - Nicola has spoken about her decision to bare all for the Regency-era romance.

In one scene, the Derry Girls star went au naturel, and has opened up about what spurred her on to make that choice.

Netflix

Nicola told Stylist: "I specifically asked for certain lines and moments to be included. "There’s one scene where I’m very naked on camera, and that was my idea, my choice.

"It just felt like the biggest ‘f*** you’ to all the conversation surrounding my body; it was amazingly empowering.

"I felt beautiful in the moment, and I thought: 'When I’m 80, I want to look back on this and remember how f**king hot I looked!'"

She added that she 'felt great' about the nudity because 'because not only did I consent to it but I drove it'.

And the sex scenes were 'one of the things she enjoyed most' during filming.

She also told the Radio Times: "Hundreds of millions of people watch the show - not five. That’s really scary. But it was one of the things I enjoyed most.

"Luke and I had a real hand in what we did and how it came across. We had agency and we could let it flow.

"Thankfully, we had that physical comfort with one another – so it ended up being a really beautiful thing.

Nicola Coughlan said Luke Newton is a 'dream to work with'. (Netflix)

"Luke is a dream to work with. We really had each other’s back. Having now watched those scenes, I’m so proud of them.”

Commenting on her portrayal of Penelope and the importance of her role, Nicola added: "Penelope’s also the most modern heroine we’ve had because she doesn’t just want marriage and love – she also wants a career.

"I think everyone can relate to the love story – but for women it’s hard to have it all.

"There should be no shame in her wanting everything.”

Bridgerton Series 3 Part 1 is now streaming on Netflix.