Nicola Coughlan opens up about her ‘Bridgerton’ sex scenes

There’s no denying Nicola Coughlan is one damn talented lady. From making us cry with laughter as one of our very fave Derry Girls characters, Clare, to giving us top secret insights (IYKYK) into the world of Bridgerton as none other than wallflower Penelope Featherington. 

And while we’ve been significantly obsessing over how incredible she looks – from her top tier skin care to her replicable Bridgerton makeup – some others (who apparently felt the world would benefit from their opinions - and um, it didn’t) haven’t quite felt the same. And TBH, it makes us angry that the star has faced an ounce of backlash over her size, especially considering she was quite literally cast to perfection for the role. So much so, she decided to get her own back. 

Nicola Coughlan Body Statement

In the sad world we live in, it’s actually not the first time that Coughlan has come out and had to make a statement surrounding her own body (it’s 2024 here, people). But instead of politely asking people to eff off with their opinions, she devised a brilliant plan for revenge. 

Okay, so we know Season 3 is brimming with spicy Polin scenes. So spicy in fact that the cleverly (and chronically online - she sees the comments people) Coughlan decided to have some control in the situation. 

In an interview with Stylist she opened up about working with the onset intimacy coordinator Lizzy Talbot. Our girl Pen *ahem* Coughlan literally asked for specific “lines and moments to be included”. One moment that she asked for has on her screen and “very naked”. Yep, things got downright raunchy.  

The liberation of filming the scenes had Coughlan over the moon, with the star saying “it just felt like the biggest ‘f*** you’ to all the conversation surrounding my body; it was amazingly empowering.” We’ve definitely been cheering her on silently from our couches while watching the season.

But the one thing that gets us the most is that Coughlan’s family won’t be seeing a single second of her Regency era raunchiness. Nope, growing up Irish-Catholic has meant that Coughlan literally has it written into her contract that she gets a version with all explicit moments cut. Iconic behaviour really.

So, when you’re binge watching the season for the seventh time, think about how proud Coughlan was to be standing there empowered, feeling (and looking) “f**king hot”. If Coughlan bottled her attitude, we'd be buying up big. Get them girl!

Main Image Credit: @nicolacoughlan

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