Netflix has made several big changes to its hit series Bridgerton, which leads to one question: is Benedict Bridgerton gay?
Shondaland’s Bridgerton adaptation is based on Julia Quinn’s book series of the same name. The show premiered in 2020 and became an instant hint, mostly because of the steamy romance, the Bridgerton men, and the sizzling chemistry between the leads.
However, once season 2 premiered, it became obvious that the adaptation would not follow the books to the letter. Things are getting even further away from the source material, as Colin and Penelope Featherington will take the lead in the highly-anticipated season 3. Had it followed the book series order, Bridgerton season 3 should have followed An Offer from a Gentleman, Benedict’s story.
This leads to the question at hand regarding Benedict’s sexuality. In the Netflix show, Benedict Bridgerton is portrayed by Luke Thompson, who has gotten several important scenes in the first two seasons. However, one particular scene comes to mind when analyzing Benedict Bridgerton’s sexuality.
Will Benedict date a man on Bridgerton?
In the show’s first season, Benedict’s flirtation with artist Sir Henry Granville seemed to hint that Lady Violet’s second-oldest son might be gay. Or, at the very least, bisexual. Given all the liberties taken by the Netflix show, everything seemed possible.
Despite the fireworks-worthy chemistry between Benedict and Henry, nothing happened between the two of them. Come season 2, Benedict’s interest in men vanished into thin air, never to be spoken about again. Instead, Benedict had a female interest called Tessa, a woman with whom he attended art school.
Netflix had the opportunity to add a same-sex couple for one of the upcoming leading stars, but, so far, it didn’t happen. Former showrunner Chris Van Dusen addressed Benedict’s sexuality in 2022, telling TVLine, “I’ve seen a lot of discussion about Benedict’s sexuality in Season 1,” Van Dusen agreed. “But the storyline [of him befriending] Henry was really about tolerance in a really intolerant time.” Van Dusen noted that being the second son “allows him more freedom to do the things that he loves as a creative pursuit.”
However, in a new interview with Bridgerton’s new showrunner Jess Brownell, she confirmed to Refinery29Au that queer love stories are planned for future seasons. While playing coy about what is going to happen, Brownell noted, “I think this is a show about the many ways in which people love. So it only feels right to show all the ways in which people love, including queer love. So we are exploring queer love stories across the next couple of seasons.”
Even though Benedict seems to be more open-minded than the rest of his siblings, so far, he hasn’t come out as gay or bisexual. In the books, he ends up with Sophie Beckett, who hasn’t appeared in the Netflix adaptation yet. However, with season 3 just around the corner, Benedict might meet the love of his life soon or even have more space to explore his sexuality.
