'Bridgerton' Season 2: Eloise & Penelope's Sweet Friendship Starts To Sour

The long-awaited second season of “Bridgerton” is almost here!

Although fans are anxiously awaiting to see the eldest Bridgerton find love, fans have fallen in love with the ensemble cast, particularly Penelope (Nicola Coughlan), Eloise (Claudia Jessie), and Colin (Luke Newton).

The three sat down with Entertainment Weekly to discuss what’s in store for their characters in season 2!

Eloise is now officially old enough to find her own love match, even if having a husband and settling down is the furthest thing from her mind.

“She'll be suffocated slightly because she does need to please her family,” Jessie said. “But it will only confirm to her why she wants complete autonomy and a future she believes she's entitled to.”

“Her alternative is something that she doesn't want to be a part of. She doesn't want to find a husband and dance,” Jessie explained. “So, I can understand why that has become nearly an obsession. She admires Lady Whistledown, who she believes to be this autonomous woman with loads of money spilling gossip about people all about town. That's something she's in love with, and it's basically going to make Penelope's job incredibly hard.”

Her poor prospects will force her to try to track down the notorious Lady Whistledown. Unfortunately, she still isn’t aware that Whistledown’s true identity is her best friend Penelope, which will definitely make things more difficult between them.

For Coughlan, it was a delight to have Jessie filming with her… even if it does make things considerably more difficult for Lady Whistledown!

“I was excited to be with her more and to film the ball scenes with her because sometimes in season 1 filming the ball scenes as Penelope was really lonely,” Coughlan explained. “I'd be standing on my own for three days. Now I'm like, ‘Oh my god, I have a friend.’ But then, obviously that throws up a whole bunch of stuff for Penelope.”

“It makes things difficult for Penelope because she has got a job to do, and she needs to be in every dark corner hearing everything happen,” she continued. “She's got her best friend there, which is great, but Eloise is attached to her hip, so how does she get away with that? It tests her relationships with everyone in her life.”

“Penelope has this power Eloise so wants, but she also wants the more traditional things Eloise is against,” she added.

However, Jessie thinks that their friendship makes a “beautiful union.”

“Their friendship proves it's possible to be at two ends of a spectrum and make a beautiful union,” Jessie said. “Penelope's a solid listener, which works to her benefit. And Eloise is talking so much that she's missed the whole fact that her best friend has been this person the entire time.”

Although she adores Eloise, Coughlan said that Penelope is her “truest” self when she is around another Bridgerton sibling: Colin.

“There's a relaxed feeling around him and he's such a genuine soul,” she explained. “She obviously adores Eloise, but there's something about being around Colin.”

However, she still thinks the world of Eloise.

“Eloise is on a pedestal for her,” Coughlan added. “She thinks she's the funniest, smartest, best person in the world and I think a lot of Whistledown is to impress Eloise.”

But would Eloise even forgive her if she was able to find out the truth?

“My hope is that you're able to get beyond those things, even if they are huge,” Jessie said. “But when you are that age and they have been ride or die for that long, you can imagine that it would be shattering.”

“In season 1, it felt like the most uncomplicated love that there was,” she continued. “I think that's why everyone was so attached to it. It's two women sharing their minds and their thoughts. They need each other to make sense of this world together.”

“If a friendship can't survive with secrets, it shouldn't be there anyway,” she added. “But when you're that age everything feels so massive, and it will shake them both.”

Fans will just have to wait and see if “Peneloise” survives when “Bridgerton” season 2 hits Netflix on March 25!