“Bridgerton” Star Nicola Coughlan Hid a Lady Whistledown Clue in the First Episode

You’d have to be as observant as Lady Whistledown herself in order to catch the Bridgerton easter egg hidden in the very first episode — but if you managed to spot it, you might have had a pretty good idea about the gossip columnist’s identity from the beginning. Warning! If you haven’t finished the first season, you might want to stop reading — major spoilers ahead.

Actor Nicola Coughlan, who plays the lovable Penelope Featherington, recently revealed that she hid a super-sneaky clue in episode number one, which actually hinted that Penelope was Lady Whistledown all along — a fact that viewers don’t learn until the finale’s closing scene. She revealed the truth on February 20, asking fans on Twitter if they caught the clue about Penelope in the show’s first scene.

Nicola’s followers had some pretty good guesses, including Penelope’s nickname, the Featherington household, and a bee, but none of those were correct. Eventually, the actor explained that she chose a large prop for her first scene, which happened to be a feather. Now, it might have gone unnoticed, since Penelope’s last name is literally Featherington…but what if it wasn’t a feather at all? Perhaps it was a quill — like the one Lady Whistledown uses to write her society papers.

Some eagle-eyed fans picked up on it, but most seemed surprised by the revelation, commending Nicola for her clever hint.

Season 1 of Bridgerton might be over, but Lady Whistledown will have plenty to write about in the future, because the popular series is headed back to Netflix for a second installment. Like Julia Quinn’s novels, the series’ next chapter is set to focus on Anthony Bridgerton (played by Jonathan Bailey) and recently added Sex Education star Simone Ashley to the cast, where she’ll be portraying Kate Sharma. In a recent interview with British Vogue, Jonathan described the show’s second season by saying, “I feel like the campy, plush spectacle of the Bridgerton world is only going to get more pronounced in the best way possible. It’s mad, and it’s brilliant.”

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