TV & Movies
Bridgerton’s Claudia Jessie Responds To Season 5 Theory About Eloise
The clues have been here all along.
It’s hard to believe that Bridgerton first waltzed onto Netflix half a decade ago. But indeed, Benedict and Sophie’s Season 4 love story marks the halfway point of Julia Quinn’s novels about the titular brood.
Fortunately, there’s still plenty of romance to come, characters to meet, and grand gestures to swoon over. But who will lead Bridgerton Season 5? While #Benophie’s season is still airing (Part 2 drops on Feb. 26), many viewers are already looking ahead. And in a recent interview, Claudia Jessie weighed in on speculation that it’s her character, Eloise, who may be up next.
The Pall-Mall Theory
ICYMI, there’s a long-standing theory in the Bridgerton fandom based on the pall-mall game in Season 2, Episode 3. Many fans think the scene symbolizes the order of the show’s seasons. As noted by Reddit sleuths u/Ladysilvert and u/JilliusMaximusJD, the sequence of the players mirrors who led the first two seasons of the show.
But then, when Benedict goes for the third wicket — he’s the third book in Quinn’s Bridgerton series — he misses, and Colin makes it instead.
Since the pall-mall lineup seems to track with the Bridgerton seasons and the way Colin’s season was moved up, it makes sense to consult the game for future leads, too. And who hits their ball through the fifth wicket? None other than Eloise!
In an interview published on Feb. 3, Digital Spy asked Jessie about the theory, and she was intrigued to learn about it, exclaiming: “Crikey, wow!” But when pressed about whether her character would lead the next chapter, the actor simply pretended to faint. (Which... iconic.)
“That’s gonna be my answer every time, I’m just gonna fake pass away,” she joked, before continuing: “Listen, I love being in this so much. You can probably tell, I’m quite an excitable person. I like this job a lot. And whenever it does happen ... it’s gonna be my absolute effing pleasure. I cannot wait.”
Other Clues About Season 5
Several fans took Jessie’s flustered reaction as a sign that Eloise would, in fact, lead Season 5. And while Jessie may not be divulging any specifics, there are other clues in her favor. Showrunner Jess Brownell recently told Deadline that Eloise and Francesca would be the focus of the next two seasons. And though she didn’t reveal the order of the sisters’ seasons, she wore their initials on a pocket square, and E came before F.
Even before Season 4, fans noticed in an early still that Eloise was wearing a dress with a pattern reminiscent of tree bark, which several theorized could be a nod to the letters she writes to her love interest in To Sir Phillip, with Love, or a representation of the titular Phillip’s passion for botany.
