Nicola Coughlan’s romance with Jake Dunn and acting as her ‘true love’

Nicola Coughlan’s romance with Jake Dunn and acting as her ‘true love’ Nicola Coughlan may have found herself a real-life leading man after fans watched her fall in love on-screen as Penelope Featherington in the most erotic series of Bridgerton to date.

It looks like it’s time for the actress to find true love after her character Penelope waited years to marry her best friend Colin Bridgerton (played by Luke Newton). Bridgerton fans may even be a little disappointed to see Coughlan not choose to pursue a romance with Newton after they captured the hearts of many fans with their on-screen romance with Polin.

Even Coughlan herself joked to TIME magazine last week: “A lot of people really wanted me to marry Luke.” They have a great friendship in real life after years of working together on Bridgerton, but it’s all platonic.

This week, Coughlan, 37, was pictured holding hands with actor Jake Dunn, 24, on a night out in London, in pictures obtained by MailOnline. The rumoured pair could be one of the hottest celebrity couples of the season, given Coughlan’s celebrity status.

Who is Nicola Coughlan’s new boyfriend Jake Dunn?

While Coughlan is Irish but moved to London to pursue his acting dreams, Dunn is a British actor who also lives in the capital.

He made a name for himself as an actor after taking on the role of Thomas Blancheford in Disney+ series Renegade Nell. His other acting credits include Netflix’s Get Even, BBC’s Rebel Cheer Squad: A Get Even Series and Channel 4’s Big Boys.

But it was co-star Louisa Harland — who has worked with both rumoured couples — who reported that they were set up, according to MailOnline. She is said to have played matchmaker after remaining friends with Coughlan since their time together in Derry Girls and recently working with Dunn on Disney+ series Renegade Nell.

Coughlan and Dunn were first spotted together in March this year, meaning they kept their romance under wraps for seven months. They were also seen together in August this summer at the All Points East music festival in London.