Bridgerton stars reveal they BROKE the chaise lounge

Bridgerton star Nicola Coughlan has revealed a behind the scenes secret from season three of the hit show, which dropped its second half on Netflix on Thursday.

Fans have been impatiently waiting to see Penelope Featherington (Nicola) and Colin Bridgerton’s (Luke Newton) love story unfold and they weren’t disappointed as the new episodes feature the characters’ first, very explicit, sex scene.

Nicola shared an Instagram post on Thursday, thanking fans for watching and revealing a hilarious detail about the six minute scene.

She shared a snap of the chaise lounge where the pair filmed before revealing that she and Luke managed to break the piece of furniture with their antics.    

‘Part Two is out now, we put our heart and souls into it, hope you love watching it as much as we loved filming it ❤️ #PolinForever,’ she captioned the photos.

The behind the scenes Insta snaps showed Nicola and Luke giving the camera a thumbs up as they posed with the damaged chaise lounge. 

The hilarious post was met with an outpouring of comments from fans of ‘Polin’ – the couple name given to Penelope and Colin.

Nicola’s close friend, Queer Eye star Jonathan van Ness commented with laughing face emojis while another fan quipped: ‘We can all say that scene broke us’.

Nicola previously revealed: ‘I think we’ve won the sauciness for this series!’ as she teased that she and Luke had damaged the set with their onscreen romps, telling Entertainment Weekly: 

‘We did break a piece of furniture while doing one scene. It’s a little bit like a stunt in which they’re like, ‘Okay, we’re gonna do this, this, and this.

‘But then they gave us freedom and we had a lot of say in how we did those scenes and what we wanted to do. That makes you feel quite empowered.

‘So we felt super. They were actually really enjoyable. I didn’t think they would be. It was fun.’

While Nicola previously revealed this installment was set to be saucier than ever, viewers were made to wait until the closing moments of part one for the central love story to really kick off as things got steamy between the couple in the carriage. 

However, now that the pair have finally declared their love, it seems there was no holding the young lovebirds back as they threw themselves into passionate scenes. 

Penelope and Colin’s sex scene comes in episode five of the series as fans went wild for the racy romp, with one penning: ‘I’M SCREAMING I KNEW IT. ON THE SOFA;’ thought this show was PG13?!?!?’

‘oh ep 5 went from 0 to 100 quick lmao’; ‘Just watched episode 5 and all i want to say is oh my god’; ‘Boobs on my screen this is crazy’.

‘Omggg these two just have me screaming, giggling, and kicking my feet, and crying all at the same time!!! I LOVE YOU POLIN!! I LOVE YOUUUU!!’

But that racy six-minute sex scene between Penelope and Colin has divided critics, with it branded both ‘cringe’ and ‘one of the sexiest moments on television’. 

While Variety’s Aramide Timudu called the scene of the ‘sexiest things seen on television since Bridgerton series one’, the Evening Standard’s Vicky Jessop felt the highly-anticipated regency romp left a little to be desired. 

‘Steamy this is not,’ she said. ‘Watching it feels like seeing two teenagers fumbling their way through an awkward clinch.’

Critics’ opinions on part two were largely restricted to episode five and six, as Netflix guarded the final two for its main drop on Thursday.

Vicky gave part two a damning two-star review, as she asked: ‘Is Bridgerton losing its touch?’