In the final episode of Bridgerton season 3, another shocking twist occurs after Francesca Bridgerton falls in love with the woman Michaela Stirling, confusing viewers about her sexuality.
Francesca Bridgerton married John Stirling; however, after just two years of marriage, the Earl of Kilmartin passed away due to a ruptured cerebral aneurysm.
i really hope they make francesca and michaela scissor on screen just to make the straight #BRIDGERTON stans even madder pic.twitter.com/TeXPvOrnzq
— rina (@blueteababy) June 14, 2024
When Francesca was grieving her husband’s loss, Michaela Stirling, the cousin of Francesca’s late husband, came into her life as a good friend and turned into a lover.
The gay relationship between two women, Michaela Stirling and Francesca Bridgerton, left fans shocked.
Francesca Bridgerton’s relationship story is different in Netflix than in the Bridgerton novel series
The Bridgerton book reader might already know that there is no such character as Michaela in the series When He Was Wicked.
Further, the novel has portrayed Francesca as a straight woman, whereas in Netflix, she turns out to be queer.
Similarly, in the book, Francesca marries John’s cousin, a man named Michael, who inherited her late husband John’s title as the Earl of Kilmartin and all his responsibilities.
However, the Bridgerton showrunner Jess Brownell says that she had been planning Francesca’s character as a queer for a long time.
No one thinks even twice about calling Benedict bisexual but when it comes to Francesca it’s like that’s not even an option, because apparently she can only be straight or a lesbian…
— Mely💘 (@LavenderMel_) June 13, 2024
Bisexual women erasure as usual🙃 #bridgerton pic.twitter.com/ou3tqGlSiA
She said that when she read Julia Quinn’s book Bridgerton, she felt related to the character Francesca, who is different from her family and the world and did not know why.
As a queer woman herself, Jess thought Francesca’s character was not only related to her but also to most queer people, so she decided to give a twist to the character.
Therefore, she changed the novel’s male character, Michael, to a female character, Michaela, and portrayed her as Francesca’s partner.
Additional Information
- South African actress Masali Baduza played the role of Michaela Stirling’s character in the Bridgerton.
- John Stirling and Francesca Bridgerton had two children: a son named John Stirling II and a daughter named Janet Stirling II.
- The showrunner will emphasize the further queer story and clear the fan’s curiosity about whether there would be ‘queer happily ever after’ or ‘queer trauma’ in the fourth season, which is in the works.
