*Warning — spoilers for Bridgerton season 2 ahead*
Bridgerton season 2 landed on Netflix recently, with millions of fans tuning in to watch the Regency Era hit. We've seen the return of many favourite characters, including Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) who goes on quite a journey this season.
Since the end of Bridgerton season 1 fans have known the true identity of mystery gossip Lady Whistledown, who publishes society papers detailing scandals and people's personal lives. She's even caught the attention of Queen Charlotte (Golda Rosheuvel) who is equally as intrigued by the mysterious figure.
But until recently, it was only fans who knew Penelope was actually Whistledown and has been sneaking out at night to publish papers, hiding money in her room, and continuing to spy on those around her for juicy gossip.
It was only a matter of time before she was found out though, and in Bridgerton season 2 her big secret caused a rift between her and best friend Eloise Bridgerton (Claudia Jessie), where the pair decided to end their friendship.
Viewers were devastated by these events, and according to star Nicola Coughlan, it was just as difficult for her and Claudia Jessie when they had to film the fallout scene.
She told E! Online: "Friendship breakups are just so horrendous. To film that scene was really harrowing and actually like, made me feel sick to my stomach."
The Derry Girls actress added that she felt 'super nervous' ahead of filming the scene, which resulted in her and Jessie 'really crying' while acting out the fight due to how emotional it was for their characters.
But this wasn't too surprising for the Bridgerton cast, as Nicola added: "We had an inkling that this was going to happen from the first couple of episodes."
"Because there was one line, where Penelope says to Eloise, 'You cannot lie to me!' And I went, 'Why is she saying that?' And I sort of questioned it and [the writers] said 'No, please say it. It's important because of later on.' And we both went, 'Oh, no. Oh, no. This is bad.'"
With Penelope betraying Eloise's trust, and the latter ending their conversation by saying "I wish to never see or speak to you again", this is arguably one of the most intense breakups in the series, as fans have long loved the bond between the two women.
Hopefully, they'll be able to patch things up in Bridgerton season 3, we'll just have to keep our fingers crossed!
Bridgerton is streaming exclusively on Netflix around the world.
