'Bridgerton' Cast Discusses The End Of Penelope & Eloise's Friendship

The best "Bridgerton" friendship may be that between Eloise Bridgerton (Claudia Jessie) and Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan). However, that all comes to an end in the season 2 finale, when Eloise discovers that her best friend is none other than Lady Whistledown herself.

Both actresses sat down with Entertainment Weekly to talk about the fight and what it means for the future of their friendship, which fans refer to as "Peneloise."

After Eloise finds Penelope's Lady Whistledown money hidden in her floorboards, Penelope has no choice but to confess her identity. After a vicious fight, Eloise tells Penelope that she doesn't want to see or speak to her former best friend ever again.

Coughlan revealed that "I found it really hard to shoot that, and Claudia did, too, because we're so deeply invested in the characters."

"We both love to sit between takes and talk about the characters and the journeys and all that stuff," she continued. "We're both very nerdy about our jobs in that way. So, those were real tears in that scene. We were really caught up and hurt by it."

"But it was bound to happen," she added. "Penelope has been deceiving Eloise for two years and using her family's dramas as entertainment for the ton. We knew the fallout was going to be bad, but it was very bad."

Even though Eloise said she doesn't want to see Penelope ever again, Jessie said, "I don't think it'll be insurmountable," when asked if Peneloise will be able to repair their friendship.

"The reason for that isw the fact that Eloise admires and has admired Lady Whistledown for so long," she continued. "She'll probably end up being a bit impressed with her best friend. However, I do think it's going to take time and effort, because the levels of betrayal are so big."

Jessie added that "there's so much to unpack," noting that "Penelope watched her best friend for an entire season run around humiliating herself, getting in altercations with the Queen trying to find out who Lady Whistledown was. She's lied to her that entire time. She writes about Eloise's family. She wrote about Eloise. She wrote about Marina Thompson. The humiliation, the lies, the consistency of the lies, and then the snowballing of the lies — there's so much. I don't know how she'd be able to get over that quickly."

Although Penelope said some harsh things, Coughlan said that "she almost immediately regretted it when the words came out of her mouth."

"In that moment, that's when the Featherington in her really popped out," she explained. "She's used to hearing people speak like that to one another growing up, so it comes quite easily to her."

Although Eloise knows her identity now, Coughlan doesn't believe she would spill Penelope's secret to the Queen.

"My instinct is no," Coughlan said when asked. "I would have to ask the writers, but I think they love each other too much. I don't think Eloise would ever do that to her. I don't think Eloise would betray her in that way."

"I just don't see it happening," Jessie added. "I can't see it happening. Someone else could, maybe Madame Delacroix. But I just can't see Eloise telling anyone. She'd be like, 'There's nothing to gain here.'"

The season ends with Penelope deciding to continue writing as Lady Whistledow, despite her hiatus earlier in the season. Coughlan admitted, "It's going to annoy Eloise a h--- of a lot to see those papers flying around."

However, both actresses and many fans are hoping that Penelope and Eloise will be able to repair their friendship, despite the harsh words that have come between them.

"I'm deeply invested in Peneloise," Coughlan said. "I should go to the writers of season 3 and be like, 'Hey, let's just make up in episode 1 in the first 10 minutes, and then everything will be nice again.' But I don't think I'm going get that wish. The love there is so strong and so deep, but it's not going to be a quick fix by any means."

Season 2 of "Bridgerton" is currently available to stream on Netflix.