Will Benedict be the focus of Bridgerton’s first queer storyline?

Bridgerton is all about love, but so far the Netflix juggernaut has only explored one kind of romantic love in depth over the course of its three seasons: heterosexual love.

But fans who are hoping the show might do something different need not worry, because showrunner Jess Brownwell has revealed the period drama will one day have a queer storyline. The series is based on Julia Quinn's novels, and though her books do not feature an LGBTQ+ romance the show has never been afraid to make changes.

Speaking with Refinery29 Australia, Brownwell teased: "This is a show about the many ways in which people love, and it only feels right to [include] queer love, so we are exploring queer love stories across the next couple of seasons."

This raises the question of which character might best be served by a queer relationship, and this first brings us to Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson) and the question mark around his sexuality in the show since season 2. But before we explain why, be warned this article contains some spoilers.

The character has had a number of romances with women over the course of the show's three seasons, and season 2 first entertained the idea that Benedict was intrigued by the possibility of being with a man when he saw a friend from the Royal Academy of Art having sex with another man.

Read more: Is Bridgerton season 3 the steamiest yet?

In Season 3 Part 2, the show suggests that Benedict is questioning his interest in men further because while he enjoys a romance with widow Lady Tilley Arnold (Hannah New) she introduces him to her male friend Paul Suarez (Lucas Aurelio), and they share a conversation that is full of sexual tension.

Things go one step further when Benedict sees the pair kissing, and when he interrupts their dalliance they suggest that he could join them. Benedict, clearly in a state of panic, quickly makes an excuse and leaves the situation but his reaction suggests that he is questioning his sexual identity.

In the end, Benedict decides to take Lady Tilley and Paul on their offer of a shared relationship, and the ensuing entanglements help him realise his desire to be "free". This lends weight to the argument that Benedict might enjoy a relationship in future that is less confined to the social standards of the time, thus his love interest in season 4 could well be changed.

Benedict's romance is told in Julia Quinn's third novel An Offer From a Gentleman that follows his romance with Sophie Beckett, the daughter of a noble who fell from grace who is forced to become a servant by her step-mother. When he meets Sophie at a masquerade ball he is immediately smitten with her, but she leaves him at midnight with only a glove to remember her by and he makes it his mission to find her.

The book takes a lot of inspiration from Cinderella, so it's likely that the Netflix series will make changes to the story so that it's not quite so obvious a reinterpretation of the fairytale. And given what has happened in season 3, one way they could do this is by exploring a queer romance with Benedict.

But it's not guaranteed that Benedict will be the one to have a queer romance, because Season 3 Part 2 also suggests that one other Bridgerton sibling will be given the storyline: Francesca (Hannah Dodd).

In Part 1 viewers watched as Francesca grew close to John Stirling (Victor Alli), and the character is who she marries first. But her book, When He Was Wicked, sees her widowed for several years, and in her grief become acquainted with John's cousin Michael with whom she later falls in love with.

Read more: Which Bridgerton sibling will season 4 be about?

Part 2 sees Francesca and John marry, but also points towards the character actually being interested in women because she is introduced by John to his cousin, a young woman, named Michaela (Masali Budaza), who is a gender-flipped version of Michael.

Francesca's flustered reaction to Michaela in the encounter has also led fans to believe that she is queer, and that she will one day develop romantic feelings for the other woman.

Could it be Francesca who is the focus of Bridgerton's queer storyline, then? Quite possibly, but there is also every chance that there will not be just one queer romance in the show but two.

There are many facets to a person's sexual identity, so it isn't unreasonable to think that both Benedict and Francesca could be part of the LGBTQ+ community. But we won't know for sure until new seasons of the show airs.

Bridgerton season 3 is out now in full on Netflix.