If you’ve already devoured the first four episodes of Bridgerton season three, you’ll know that things ended on a rather raunchy cliffhanger.
After four long years of build-up, viewers finally got to witness the moment Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton) and Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) profess their feelings for one another, after which the pair shared their first intimate sequence together.
It’s already been dubbed “the carriage scene” for obvious reasons, and it turns out both co-stars felt the pressure to make this a moment to remember.
In a behind-the-scenes interview shared by Netflix, the actors remarked on how Colin initially thinks he’s “screwed it up”, before Penelope reveals that his feelings are indeed requited.
“That was a lot,” Luke admitted of their first Polin hook-up, with Nicola adding “it was big pressure”.
“The fans are horny little devils and they used to send us pictures of carriages constantly and carriages rocking,” the Derry Girls star explained. “So, this has to be both beautiful, touching, romantic and sexy, which is a lot of things.”
Nicola continued that, in Penelope’s mind, she’s “messed it up” after asking Colin to be her first kiss in episode two. “She’s like, ’He will never fancy me. He doesn’t fancy me. It’s embarrassing. I’m gonna move on. There’s no part of her when he gets in that carriage that thinks anything like this is gonna happen.”
Luke added: “He’s putting himself out there and he could just be rejected and have to get out and walk home.”
But the actor said he “loves” that scene, precisely because “she’s in control. He’s put himself out there”.
Their comments come after Nicola previously opened up about filming the “intimidating” sex scenes with her co-star.
“Hundreds of millions of people watch the show – not five. That’s really scary,” she shared in a recent interview with Radio Times.
In another interview with Stylist, the actor opened up about her decision to be “very naked on camera” to get back at trolls who have criticised her appearance.
Despite the steamy nature of her scenes, Nicola previously explained she has no problem watching the show with her family – because she had it written into her contract that they would get a PG version of the show to watch.
Critics have so far been split on the first season of the hit regency romance, with some praising it for being “seriously steamy”, while others said it was simply “stale”.
The first half of Bridgerton season three is available to watch now on Netflix, with the next four episodes set to drop on Thursday 13 June.