Bridgerton season 4: Is Francesca Bridgerton queer in the Netflix show? Explained

Netflix kicked off part one of Bridgerton Season 4 on January 29, 2026, and just like that, we are back in sparkling ballrooms, surrounded by gossip and Regency-era drama.

This time around, everyone is talking about Benedict Bridgerton’s Cinderella-style romance with Sophie Baek, but there’s something else brewing in the background, something the show has been hinting at since the end of Season 3.

The writers are turning Francesca Bridgerton into a queer character. Bridgerton Season 4, part 1, already starts planting the seeds for what looks like one of the most emotional stories the series has ever told. The show is steering away from the books here, but Jess Brownell, the showrunner, has had this twist in mind since the very beginning.

Bridgerton season 4: Is Francesca Bridgerton queer in the Netflix show?

You might recall the scene at the end of Bridgerton Season 3 when Francesca, who was newly married, met Michaela Stirling? You might have clocked it instantly if you are a book reader. To the others, it was only an embarrassing introduction that made Francesca stammer and forget her own name. But that scene had a load of meaning.

Francesca was recently married to John Stirling, the Scottish earl, who realized that she needed peace and quiet. They were going to go to Scotland with the sister of Francesca, Eloise, when John presented them to his cousin, Michaela. Something changed the moment Francesca looked directly at Michaela. She stuttered, flushed, and stood quite dismayed, just as her mother, Violet, said she had fallen in love with the father of Francesca. The spark that Violet was trying to find in the courtship between Francesca and John, it appeared as Michaela entered the room.

This is where it becomes interesting to the book readers: In the works of Julia Quinn, John has a cousin, Michael, who is a man and turns out to be the second love of Francesca after John dies tragically. The character was gender-switched in the show, with Michael becoming Michaela, and this became the first big queer love between the main characters in the Bridgerton series.

Bridgerton showrunner Jess Brownell informed various outlets that it was not a decision taken at the last minute or a reaction to fan requests. She has been selling the Michaela plot since the first season of Bridgerton. Being a queer woman herself, Brownell related well to Francesca and her book, which dwells greatly on the character struggling to understand why she does not feel like her family. That difference, in the novels, is based on her introversion. But Brownell saw a chance to venture further.

In the four Episodes of Bridgerton Season 4, the plot of Francesca is about her marriage to John. They are back in Scotland to be in Violet’s masquerade ball, and everything appears to be okay on the surface. They are obviously love-struck, spending some good time together in knowing one another and being together. But cracks are showing.

The biggest issue is that when having intimate moments with John, Francesca is not able to achieve her pinnacle. As a modern viewer, we refer to the fact that she cannot have an orgasm with her husband. She opens up to her sister-in-law, Penelope, and desperately attempts to comprehend the reasons for her issues and ways of rectifying them. She even tries to pretend, but John right away points it out, and they have an emotional talk about it.

The show is careful here. Brownell made it clear in interviews that this does not mean to nullify the relationship that Francesca and John have. They are in love with each other as they are friends, respectful, and understand one another. Not all relationships are motivated by passion, and there is nothing wrong with that.

However, the authors are applying these personal conflicts as those tiny clues that there is something more, like the desires of Francesca, something that she has not yet come to know about herself.

Then comes Bridgerton Season 4 Episode 4’s ending. Michaela comes to London at an opportune moment and rides her carriage to the house of Francesca and John at night. When she sweeps in wearing a dramatic cape, Francesca’s reaction is immediate and visceral. She says it is a wonderful surprise, but her face tells otherwise. She is shaken, off her feet, tugged away somewhere she does not quite know yet.

Hannah Dodd, who portrays Francesca, told PEOPLE that Michaela challenges her and brings out a relatively different energy. Francesca is an introvert, and the woman is subdued and domestic. Francesca is introverted and controlled, whereas Michaela is extroverted and chaotic. They are opposites, and that energy definitely works its way into the head of Francesca in a manner that the silent presence of John has never.

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Part 2 of Season 4 drops on February 26, and, going by the source material, we already know the direction this is taking. Francesca and John spend two happy years of their marriage together in the books, and John dies because of a brain aneurysm. Francesca is heartbroken and later falls in love with Michael.

The same appears to be happening with the show, only with Michaela. Brownell affirmed that they will adhere to the book storyline of Francesca with the gender reversal. It goes to imply that before the tragedy befalls Francesca and John, the couple will enjoy more time onscreen, and the actual drama between Francesca and Michaela will probably become a later season when Francesca can have the limelight of her own.

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