Bridgerton star, Nicola Coughlan, recently revealed that season 1 had an alternate ending. While the show's titular family is front and center of the popular Netflix series, the show's most interesting character is arguably Lady Whistledown. Throughout its first year, the mysterious author of the society's newsletter revealed new scandalous tidbits that had its readers hooked — even the Queen herself. Her gossips were drivers of the narrative, so much so, that she almost functioned like a narrator.
Tapping Julie Andrews to voice the character, there were justified parallels to Gossip Girl — only that Bridgerton is set in London's high society during Regency. However, the series opted to keep the real identity of the character a secret until the very end. As it turns out, it's Penelope Featherington behind the addicting and sometimes, malicious column. Admittedly, it was a surprising twist for many, especially since Eloise, her best friend, was hell-bent on unmasking who she is, and they spent a significant amount of time with each other.
However, according to Bridgerton star Nicola Coughlan, this wasn't the original ending that the writers wanted for season 1. Appearing at Netflix's TUDUM event over the weekend (via People), the creators of the show weren't sure whether they wanted to reveal Lady Whistledown's identity early on. So, there's a version of the finale that hinted at Cressida Cowper as the woman behind the societal papers. It was only through reshoots that they worked on what ultimately made it on the screen. Read what Coughlan said below:
“It was a reshoot in July, so they had filmed a different ending. They were going to make it seem like it was Cressida Cowper.”
It seems like Bridgerton writers were anxious to resolve the mystery of Lady Whistledown early on. Coughlan said that they were pondering on revealing her identity either in season 1 or 2, and considering that the show is confirmed to run longer than that, that means that it can focus on other narratives. Fans can now move on the conversation about the show instead of getting stuck on this guessing game. Additionally, Netflix can actually reveal how Penelope has been secretly operating as London's most influential gossiper without getting caught.
Coming into Bridgerton season 2, it's curious if there will be any change to Lady Whistledown's process of getting her popular papers out. It has been teased that a war between her and Anthony Bridgerton is coming, and it'll be interesting to find out if that means that anyone else in the cast might found out about her secret sooner. In any case, with just several months before its return, fans won't have to wait that much longer to get their answers.
Source: Netflix (via People)