Petticoats are here! Bridgerton season 3 is officially back, with Penelope Featherington and Colin Bridgerton’s love story playing out before our eyes. One character who’s also taking center stage is Francesca—but why does she look so different?
If you’ve watched the first four episodes of season three, you’ll know that we’ve also started to see Francesca, the sixth Bridgerton sister, forge some romantic connections, after she meets John outside one of the balls. Only, well, the Francesca in question is actually a completely different Francesca from seasons one and two—here’s why.
Who played Francesca in Bridgerton seasons one and two?
In the first season of Bridgerton, which premiered in late 2020, the sister was played by Ruby Stokes, who had previously appeared in short films like The Price Of Time and It’s Going To Be Okay—and most notably in the groundbreaking coming-of-age story Rocks.
In mid-May 2022, Netflix revealed that Francesca would be recast due to filming conflicts with Lockwood and Co, a teen horror film about a ghost-hunting agency that was released on the streaming platform in January 2023. “I loved Francesca,” creator Chris Van Dusen told TVLine at the time. “But we lost her in the middle of season two. After trying everything else, unfortunately, she had to go public for reasons beyond our control. Maybe season three will be the charm.”
Speaking about leaving the show, Ruby Stokes told Cosmopolitan UK, “[Leaving] was a decision that no one took lightly, but it was incredibly beneficial for both parties. I loved my time on Bridgerton; I learned so much. It prepared me [for a lead role] in something like Lockwood & Co.”
