‘Bridgerton’ finally confirmed its season 4 lead — here’s everything we know about the next season

An official announcement about Benedict being the season four lead was made on Tuesday. In a video posted by Netflix, Thompson is handed a suit for the masquerade ball — which was teased in the season three finale.

As Eloise Bridgerton (Claudia Jessie) prepared to head off to Scotland with Francesca Bridgerton (Hannah Dodd), John Stirling (Victor Alli), and Michaela Stirling (Masali Baduza) in the episode, she assured Benedict that she’d only be gone until next year.

“Do you think Mama would ever let me miss her Masquerade Ball?” she said.

Benedict, still not ready to settle down, replied: “I will be there, hiding out behind a mask, avoiding eligible ladies like the plague.”

That not-so-subtle moment was a nod to Benedict’s novel “An Offer From a Gentleman,” which is part of Julia Quinn’s “Bridgerton” book series.

In the third, “Cinderella”-inspired book, Benedict meets a woman named Sophie Beckett at a masquerade ball. Unbeknownst to him, Sophie is a servant to a rude stepmother named Araminta Gunningworth. By the end of the book, they express their love for each other and get married.

Back in June, Brownell told Deadline that Benedict would continue “exploring his fluidity,” but played coy about when he might meet his future wife.

The official logline for next season reads: “The fourth season of ‘Bridgerton’ turns its focus to bohemian second son Benedict (Luke Thompson). Despite his elder and younger brothers both being happily married, Benedict is loath to settle down — until he meets a captivating Lady in Silver at his mother’s masquerade ball.”

Luke Newton and Nicola Coughlan will reprise their roles as Colin and Penelope Bridgerton in season 4

Kanthony fans have been wondering how long Kate (Simone Ashley) and Anthony Bridgerton (Jonathan Bailey) will stay on the show after leading season two.

Previous season leads have largely stepped away after their story arc was done, but Anthony and Kate are the new heads of the Bridgerton household, which means they have to stick around.

In season three, Anthony and Kate show up in four episodes, often disappearing on trips around the world. The show writers likely did this to explain the characters’ disappearance so Ashley and Bailey could film other projects.

In season three, episode seven, Anthony and Kate leave for a trip to India so Kate can visit her home and give birth to their first child. Though this looks like a convenient way to write the couple off the show, that may not be the case.

Ashley told reporter Josh Rom during a “Bridgerton” season three screening premiere on Wednesday that she will return for season four.

“Kate Sharma is here to stay,” Ashley said.

It might be more tricky to bring back Bailey since he was just cast as the lead in the next “Jurassic World” movie. However, Bailey has not yet said he’s leaving “Bridgerton.”

Brownell, for her part, said that she hopes to see more of Kanthony on the show.

“We love them so much, and they’re both so incredibly talented and we want to support their ability to do other projects, while still leaving the door open for them to return when and if they’re able,” she told Entertainment Weekly. “So the India send-off is a plot device in certain ways that allows us to leave the door open.”

This isn’t the last we’ve seen of Cressida Cowper

In June, “Bridgerton” showrunner Jess Brownell told The Hollywood Reporter that fans will have to wait two years for the next season.

“We are working to try and put the seasons out more quickly, but they do take eight months to film and then they have to be edited, and then they have to be dubbed into every language,” Brownell said. “And the writing takes a very long time as well, so we’re kind of on a two-year pace, we’re trying to speed up but somewhere in that range.”

Brownell added that the writers are nearly done with the season four scripts.

“I feel like it’s some of my best work and my writers room’s best work,” Brownell said. “We’ve just really gelled our collaboration, and we’re firing on all cylinders, so I can’t wait for fans to see what we have.”

In a season three finale post-mortem interview with Business Insider, Lady Danbury actor Adjoa Andoh said that filming for the new season is set to begin “sometime in the autumn.”

Brownell confirmed this in an interview with the LA Times and said that they’re filming in the fall partly for storytelling purposes but also out of practicality.

“It’s still going to be just as lush and colorful, but just more in those warm fall colors instead of the pastels,” she said. “There will still be some pastels, so it won’t look like a totally different show.”

This means that season four is likely to premiere at some point in 2026, but there’s no confirmed release date yet.