TV & Movies

The Real Reason Bridgerton Season 2 Has Dropped Its Trademark Sex Scenes

“It all serves a larger purpose.”

by Charlotte Moore
Anthony Bridgerton (Jonathan Bailey) and Kate Sharma (Simone Ashley)
Netflix

The first season of Bridgerton delivered some of the steamiest scenes on Netflix to date. The Duke and Daphne (Regé-Jean Page and Phoebe Dynevor) didn’t hold back, and fans were only too happy to talk about it. We all remember the sultry “I burn for you” line, which has since become a catchphrase, of sorts. Understandably, viewers were expecting a similar state of affairs for season two, but Bridgerton showrunner Chris Van Dusen has revealed there will be far less on-screen sex in the new episodes.

Speaking to RadioTimes.com, he explained: "It was never about quantity for us. Our approach to intimacy on the show really is the same as season one. And we use these intimate scenes to tell a story and to push the story forward.”

He continued: “We've never done a sex scene for the sake of doing a sex scene, and I don't think we ever will. It all serves a larger purpose and it's a different story this season. It's different characters.”

Noting that this year’s main duo Anthony (Jonathan Bailey) and Kate (Simone Ashley) are very different from the Duke and Daphne, he surmised: “That's really part of the draw of a project like this, the ability to tell these close-ended love stories of different characters season after season."

Cast member Ashley agreed with Van Dusen’s sentiments, adding: “They [the sex scenes] have a meaning behind them, and I think it's very earned when the fireworks happen." While Bailey noted: “I think Kate and Anthony feel explicit in the way that they feel naked in front of each other.”