Lady Whistledown fans expected the worst after Penelope Bridgerton decided to retire her gossip column in Bridgerton Season 4 finale, and portrayer Nicola Coughlan has now shed some light on the matter. While many still held hope for the youngest Featherington daughter to carry on with her journalistic escapades in Season 5, Coughlan’s latest update on her Bridgerton character may have ousted all such flames.

Nicola Coughlan talks Penelope’s role in Bridgerton Season 5

During a recent podcast appearance, the Irish actress affirmed Bridgerton fans’ worst fears by revealing that she will have a lesser role to play in the Netflix series’ upcoming installment.

“Season five had started filming already, so I won’t be in it very much,” Nicola Coughlan noted on Dish. “I’m always happy to come back. I think it’s a genuinely lovely job to come back to.”

With each edition of the fan-favorite romance series emphasizing on the storyline of one Bridgerton sibling, Coughlan’s Penelope had her time in the sun in Season 3. After that, the fourth season revolved around Benedict Bridgerton’s (Luke Thompson) pursuit of Sophie ‘Lady in Silver’ Baek (Yerin Ha). In accordance, Bridgerton Season 5 will put the limelight on Francesca Bridgerton (Hannah Dodd) and Michaela Stirling’s (Masali Baduza) romance.

Nevertheless, Penelope has another reason to have a reduced presence in the forthcoming Bridgerton season. This is considering she no more carries the mantle of Lady Whistledown. With Penelope tying the knot with Colin (Luke Newton) and her identity eventually becoming public knowledge, she finally decides to shut down her gossip column.

However, Penelope’s diminished role seems to have worked in Nicola Coughlan’s favor. She explained, “I have it so good now ’cause I come in for a few days and I’m like, ‘Yay! How is everyone? I’ll see you in two months. Bye!’ They’re working super super hard, and I’m just like coming back. It’s lovely.”

Previously, Bridgerton co-showrunner Jess Brownell reflected upon Penelope’s character arc and her decision to step back while speaking to Tudum. “She’s not the powerless girl who needs Whistledown to take back her voice anymore. While she stands by everything she believes about gossip being information, gossip being power for the voiceless, she realizes that it’s time for her to stop being in that role.”