‘Mixed-Weight' Romances In 'Bridgerton' Don't Matter, So Why Are People Talking About Them?
There are few things more nauseating than the incessant chatter, judgement and derision focussed towards women's bodies, particularly in the content of Nicola Coughlan's in the third season of Bridgerton.
Of course, fans of the show will be all too aware that the most recent third season told the story of Penelope Featherington (Coughlan) and Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton), and while any commentary surrounding the storyline ought to have centred on their will-they-won't-they love affair, or the increasing likelihood of a queer storyline forming the fourth season, instead it turned to passing comment on Coughlan's appearance. Most recently in a Forbes article that suggested the world is 'still not ready' to see two people of different body types dating on-screen in what it referred to as a 'mixed-weight romance.'
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Needless to say that within hours of the article's publication, fans of the show flocked to X to share their frustration at the narrative being perpetuated by article's use of the phrase 'mid-weight romance.'
'"Mixed-weight relationships", I hate it here,' one user wrote, while another added: '"Mixed weight relationships" is so so so funny like bro have you ever been outside?'
This is far from the first time that Coughlan's appearance has been dissected as a topic of discussion. In June 2024, the Derry Girls actor was forced to shut down body-shaming claims that Netflix had photoshopped her waist to appear skinnier in Bridgerton. 'If you wear corsetry for long enough, your body really moulds to it,' Coughlan told People in response to the claims. 'Sometimes they come in a fitting for a fashion designer and they put a corset on me and I’m like, "Oh, you can go tight," and they go, "What do you mean?" I’m like, "My body now will go whew."'
In fact, it was at Coughlan's insistence that the third season featured so much nudity on her behalf. In a June 2024 interview with Stylist, Coughlan revealed that she asked to be 'very naked on camera' for a particular scene in season three.
'It just felt like the biggest "f*** you" to all the conversation surrounding my body; it was amazingly empowering,' she explained. 'I felt beautiful in the moment, and I thought: "When I’m 80, I want to look back on this and remember how fucking hot I looked!"'
She also added in the interview how 'hard' seeing the headlines centered around her body really is. 'There is so much discourse online about how I look, and I don’t think I could ever express how hard that is. It’s insulting because I worked hard on this show; a year of fittings and dance lessons and shooting, I barely saw my family, I gave it my absolute all. And then I start doing press and all people want to talk about is my body? It’s so fucking disappointing and reductive.'
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