‘Bridgerton’ Season 5 Sets Francesca and Michaela Stirling as Leads

Shock and delight: “Bridgerton” has set Francesca (Hannah Dodd) and Michaela Stirling (Masali Baduza) as the leads for Season 5 of the Shonda Rhimes-created Netflix period romance.

On Tuesday, Netflix unveiled a first-look teaser for the fifth season of the series, which is based on Julia Quinn’s romance novels about the love lives of the eight siblings in the titular Bridgerton family, and announced production had begun in the UK on the eight-episode season.

Per Netflix’s description for “Bridgerton” Season 5, “The fifth season of Bridgerton spotlights introverted middle daughter Francesca (Hannah Dodd). Two years after losing her beloved husband John, Fran decides to reenter the marriage mart for practical reasons. But when John’s cousin Michaela (Masali Baduza) returns to London to tend to the Kilmartin estate, Fran’s complicated feelings will have her questioning whether to stick to her pragmatic intentions or pursue her inner passions.”

Netflix also included these character descriptions for the new leads:

Hannah Dodd as Francesca Stirling. Countess of Kilmartin: Reserved and contained, Francesca has long felt out of place in the world. As Michaela stirs up new feelings inside her, Fran will make discoveries about herself that could change everything.

Masali Baduza as Michaela Stirling. Beneath Michaela’s charming and vivacious exterior hides a vulnerable young woman who is quick to run the second she feels discomfort. But this season, Michaela must face her vulnerability head-on as she’s forced to navigate her relationship to her late cousin’s legacy — and to Francesca.

“Bridgerton” Season 4, which was released in two parts on Netflix between January and February, focused on the love story between Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson) and Sophie Baek (Yerin Ha).

“Bridgerton” Season 3, which also launched as two installments from May to June 2024, starred Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton) and Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan). Season 2 in March 2022 was centered on Anthony Bridgerton (Jonathan Bailey) and Kate Sharma (Simone Ashley), and the December 2020 debut installment followed Daphne Bridgerton (Phoebe Dynevor) and Simon Basset (Regé-Jean Page).

Following Season 4, the remaining Bridgerton siblings left to tell their love stories after Benedict include Eloise Bridgerton (Claudia Jessie), Francesca (Hannah Dodd), Gregory (Will Tilston) and Hyacinth (Florence Hunt). That lineup is also the order that Julia Quinn’s “Bridgerton” book series follows. However, the show has shaken up the format before, choosing to swap the order of Benedict and Colin’s stories.

In May 2025, Netflix renewed the series for a fifth and sixth season without confirming which Bridgerton would be the focus of those years. The subject was teased throughout the airing of Season 4, with Francesca being positioned as the likely frontrunner despite the fact Eloise is the book-accurate next contender.

Francesca’s storyline in the fourth season included the death of her husband John (Victor Alli) and hinted at her future with his cousin, Michaela (Masali Baduza), who is a gender-swapped version of Francesca’s ultimate love interest in the books, Michael. Meanwhile, Eloise’s plot was again about her being opposed to the idea of the marriage mart, but slowly becoming more open to that lifestyle through watching her little sister, Hyacinth’s, excitement for coming out in society one day.

Watch the teaser for “Bridgerton” Season 5 via the video below.