When the real identity of Lady Whistledown was surprisingly revealed at the end of season one of the hugely popular TV series Bridgerton, there was some fear that legendary actress, and star of some of the best musicals, Dame Julie Andrews may not continue as the series’ narrator. However, she did continue in season 2, and recently assured fans that she’ll be back in Bridgerton season 3 and beyond.
In the Bridgerton book series, the identity of Lady Whistledown is not revealed until the fourth book – which focuses on the romance between Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) and Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton). Shockingly, Whistledown is the young wallflower Penelope herself. It’s a clever twist in the show to have Whistledown’s newsletter pamphlets read by Andrews, so the audience expected her to be a much older character.
Andrews continued doing Whistledown’s voiceover narration in the second season, which focused on Anthony Bridgerton’s (Jonathan Bailey) love story. For some reason, the producers of one of the best Netflix series skipped the third book, which focuses on Benedict Bridgerton’s (Luke Thompson) romance and went straight to book four. Fans are obviously hoping that Benedict’s story will follow on from Colin’s.
If Bridgerton season 3 does follow Romancing Mister Bridgerton fairly closely, it will be a little strange to flit between Coughlan and Andrews, who share the identity of Whistledown. At the end of season two, Penelope’s best friend Eloise Bridgerton (Claudia Jessie) discovered her secret, after sleuthing like the star of a detective movie since the beginning of the show. During season three, there is little doubt that Colin will discover Penelope’s double life too. Although, the TV series has mostly done its own thing, despite being based on books so far, so it’s hard to predict exactly what will happen.
“Oh, it’s coming back. Oh definitely, yeah,” Andrews recently confirmed to ET, regarding her narration for the upcoming third season. “No, no, no,” she answered when asked about the chance of appearing onscreen. “You know who Lady Whistledown really is, so I’m afraid it stays with me in the background. But I’m very happy to do that.”
Tragically, we don’t yet have a Bridgerton season 3 release date. But in much happier news, we do have the prequel series Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story coming in May 2023.