Feb. 26, 2026, 6:03 p.m. ET
Spoiler alert: This story includes major spoilers from Season 4 of Netflix’s “Bridgerton” (now streaming).
That was quite the social season, was it not? Not only did the marriage-evading, free-spirited second son of the Bridgerton family, Benedict (Luke Thompson), finally find his match in Sophie Baek (Yerin Ha), but the ton’s gossip columnist Lady Whistledown decided to put down her pen for good. Or did she?
In Episode 6, Season 4, Penelope Bridgerton / Lady Whistledown (Nicola Coughlan) announces, with the queen’s permission and disappointment, that she is retiring her pen.
“Like you, I will always believe in the power of gossip,” Penelope tells Queen Charlotte (Golda Rosheuvel) before the bombshell announcement at Cressida Cowper, now Lady Penwood’s (Jessica Madsen), ball. “But since I have become known publicly, there has been a change. The power I hold over the ton is too great.”
In addition to being publicly known, Penelope is now a Bridgerton, no longer hiding in the shadows, which played a big role in how she gathered information. She is also dissatisfied with her role, which, until Season 3, was anonymous; however, upon outing herself, the new mom started to have ethical qualms about her work of ruining the reputations of women and men in the ton.
“I’m no longer a wallflower, an outsider,” Penelope told the queen. “I am a Bridgerton. I’m privileged to visit the queen. Whistledown takes up a space which makes it impossible to deliver good, true, fair gossip.”
With Penelope retiring her column and beginning work on her novel, audiences thought Whistledown’s chapter was over. But then she returned.
“You thought I was gone for good, but far too much transpires for this author to remain silent,” the new Whistledown, still voiced by Julie Andrews, says in the Season 4 finale. “It is assuredly a reunion rooted in care and love. Though this time with a very different author.”
‘Bridgerton’ showrunner excited about latest twist
Series showrunner Jess Brownell, meanwhile, refused to drop even the slightest of hints, telling Netflix Tudum she was excited about the twist as it steps away from Julia Quinn’s original book series.
“Penelope was Julia Quinn’s Whistledown, so we knew we couldn’t really play with that reveal for too long because people could just Google it,” Brownell told Tudum. “But now, we get to play with audience expectations.”
She added that the new Whistledown gives the creator “another opportunity to explore more of Mayfair’s working women.”
“Starting with Genevieve, the modiste in Season 1, to Penelope as Lady Whistledown, and now looking at Sophie as a maid, it’s really key for us to explore the lives of these women who do work, because it’s a time period in which women had so few options and so little agency,” Brownell said. “Showing that there were women who didn’t just settle for what was handed to them, but tried their very best to make more of their station, it broadens the female experience in the show.”
While audiences will have to wait to find out who the next Whistledown is, here’s who the cast members are rooting for.
Hyacinth Bridgerton
Claudia Jesse and Hannah Dodd, who play Bridgerton sisters Eloise and Francesca, are betting on their younger sister Hyacinth (Florence Hunt) to be Lady Whistledown.
When Dodd, on “Bridgerton: The Official Podcast,” commented that she would want Hyacinth to be Whistledown, Jesse responded that the idea would be “fantastic.”
“We need to see in the new season who they’re really bigging up,” Jesse said.
Brimsley
Golda Rosheuvel, who plays Queen Charlotte, said on the podcast that she’d like Brimsley, the queen’s loyal right-hand man, to be Whistledown.
“That would be funny,” Rosheuvel said on the “Bridgerton” podcast.
Adjoa Andoh, who played Lady Agatha Danbury, chimed in and said she “quite like(s) the Brimsley theory,” because the character, in a way, is like how “Penelope would be at a ball.”
“She’d sort of be a wallflower in the corner observing and nobody paying her much attention,” Andoh said. “What has Brimsley been doing? Have you watched him? Have you seen him? His face, he can do a mask of, ‘I’m saying nothing.’ But you know he’s saying everything, and he knows everything.”
Rosheuvel added, “His little eyes. He’s everywhere. He’s privy to everything.”
Fans debate Lady Whistledown
Fans, meanwhile, speculate it could be anyone from Eloise to new lady-in-waiting Alice Mondrich (Emma Naomi), who has a bone to pick with the discriminatory upper classes after she and her husband shockingly entered their ranks.
Some even commented that Penelope could very well still be Lady Whistledown, and did the whole act to get the ton off her back so she could work in peace and without interference.
There were also a handful of angry fans who were disappointed that the title was taken away from Penelope.
Contributing: Kelly Lawler, USA TODAY
Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Got a story idea? Reach her at sshafiq@usatodayco.com or follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7.
