Bridgerton: Nicola Coughlan on Lady Whistledown, Penelope and Colin, and wrapping season 2

"I'm actually in my final week of shooting Bridgerton right now. So I'm literally on the way to set right now... I'm shooting all this like, big, heavy, dramatic stuff for the finale at the moment, [and] I wrap on 4:30am on Saturday," she added.

Coughlan, who has a new audio scripted series 'Whistle Through The Shamrocks' out next month, stars in the Bridgerton cast as Penelope Featherington, who was revealed to be anonymous gossip writer Lady Whistledown in the final episode season one.

Asked whether season two will show us more of Lady Whistledown's secret life, she said: "I think it's safe to say that you do. And you know, that final moments of series one was definitely a peek into her life. I think in series two you kind of see how the sausage gets made and all that's happening. I felt very lucky when I got given the script to series two, like when you're an actor in a show already... [and] they've just given [me] so much good stuff."

Coughlan also teased that we'll see "repercussions" to Penelope's duplicity, potentially jeopardising her various friendships - including with Colin Bridgerton, whom she's grown "closer" to.

She said: "I think you know, she's certainly been lying to literally everyone in her life and I think you'll see the repercussions of that and I think you'll see she's not - I always say it's like a Britney Spears year, she's 'not a girl, not yet a woman'. She definitely matures from series one. And I think she thinks she's much more a woman of the world than she actually is.

"And her and Colin Bridgerton, you get to explore their relationship [in season two], they've become closer in this sort of gap [since] we've last seen them."

She added that this season "Eloise Bridgerton is debuting into society," which is "really fun, because then Claudia Jessie and I get to [go to] the other balls together. She is just a joy and a delight, I love building scenes with her.

"But it's definitely - the drama has amped up a lot. As I say, we're shooting all those big dramatic scenes for the end. It's exhausting but very satisfying," she added.

Nicola Coughlan's comedy podcast Whistle Through The Shamrocks is part of the Acast Creator Network, and episodes drops weekly on Mondays wherever you listen to podcasts, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify, from 1st November 2021.

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