“Bridgerton” Star Nicola Coughlan Is Being Praised After She Revealed The Poignant Reason Why She Chose To Be “Very Naked On Camera” In Season 3

The upcoming episodes are expected to focus heavily on Penelope’s relationship with Colin Bridgerton, played by Luke Newton — and Nicola has teased that she stripped down during filming. 

Speaking to the LA Times earlier this week, the Irish star shared her initial reaction to having to wear a tiny strapless thong to preserve her modesty for her first-ever sex scene. 

Admitting that she had some liquid courage in the form of a margarita before trying the thong on in the privacy of her own home, Nicola told the publication: “I went to the bathroom and looked in the full-length mirror, I was like: ‘Absolutely not!’ I hid it down the bottom of the laundry basket. I was like: ‘How am I going to do this?’”

She explained: “By the end of the day, we were both lying under a blanket, not clothed, just chilling. We were like: ‘This is why nudists do it.’”

And in a new interview with Stylist, Nicola has revealed the poignant reason why she made the surprising decision to add more nudity to her portrayal of Penelope. 

Nicola's decision comes after she opened up about how she is affected by people talking about her weight, writing in an Instagram post: “If you have an opinion about my body please, please don’t share it with me... It’s really hard to take the weight of thousands of opinions on how you look being sent directly to you every day.”

“All I care about is the work. Bodies change, if I lose weight or gain weight or I do anything it’s no one’s business, all I care about is doing good acting and being judged on that,” she later added to the Irish Times. 

“ugh she makes me want to be more confident in myself I love her an unexplainable amount,” one person replied.

“YES QUEEN!!!!! Body positivity is so so important, go Nicola for leading the path for curvy and/or +size women to not be ashamed of their beautiful body and show it in a sexy way instead of the cliché comedic way,” somebody else tweeted.

“as someone who has been a ‘bigger girl’ their entire life, to see someone who represents ME as the leading lady for honestly the first time in my 34 years, is very emotional for me,” one more added. “I love nicola immensely and i cannot wait to see penelope get her time to shine.”

Reacting to the response their tweet had received, the OP later wrote: “Nicola Coughlan, I hope you realise how inspiring you are to a lot of people.”

Addressing the dating gossip, the star said: “We think it’s really sweet. I think because we truly love each other.”

Reiterating their friendship, Nicola continued: “He is a really special person in my life, and I got to do this experience with him. I’ll never get to do something like this again, on this scale… It’s so nice having such a lovely friend that I can do all this with.”

 Bridgerton Season 3, Part 1 will premiere on Netflix on Thursday, May 16.