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'Bridgerton' Season 3: Speculation over Eloise Bridgerton's sexuality divides eagle-eyed fans

Fans have been speculating Eloise Bridgerton to be gay ever since 'Bridgerton' debuted on Netflix in 2020

Contains spoilers for Julia Quinn's book series 'Bridgerton'

LONDON, ENGLAND: After Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) finds her happily ever after in 'Bridgerton: Season 3, fans' focus shifts to her former best friend Eloise Bridgerton, who made her debut in society in Season 2.

Played by Claudia Jessie, Eloise is the middle sibling of the Bridgerton family. Her quick wit has been one of the biggest traits why fans love to see more of her scenes.

Eloise is a feminist who refuses to adhere to social norms and is often seen dodging her mother who just wants to get her married.

Eloise had a shot at love when she met Theo Sharpe (Calam Lynch) in Season 2. However, Penelope aka Lady Whistledown caused an end to the brewing romance.

Despite her involvement with Theo in Season 2 and her marriage with Sir Phillip in Julia Quinn's books, fans speculate that she is gay.

Fans want Eloise Bridgerton to be queer in Netflix's 'Bridgerton'

As 'Bridgerton' hasn't had any queer love story so far, fans on social media have assembled to express their desire to see a gay love story.

In Season 1, fans wanted Penelope and Eloise to end up together. However, the way things panned out in the series somehow disappointed certain fans.

An X user wrote, "I really enjoy bridgerton but this newest season should 100% have been a love story between Penelope and Eloise. I find it unrealistic that they’re NOT gay."

Meanwhile, viewers of the show are keeping their hopes up and now want Eloise to be paired with Cressida Cowper (Jessica Madsen).

Someone wrote on X, "When cressida cowper defied her parents wishes after they told her to stop hanging out with eloise bridgerton and the first thing cressida did on the next ball was seek eloise out THEY'RE GAY FOR ONE ANOTHER YOUR HONOR."

Fans are convinced that Eloise is gay and hope to see her embracing her sexuality in upcoming seasons. An agitated viewer tweeted, "Season 3 and Eloise Bridgerton still isn’t gay? grow up," while another added, "She’s so lesbian she literally despises the touch of a man you can’t tell me she’s not gay!"

Despite the growing speculations of Eloise being gay, some fans jumped in to state the opposite. A Reddit user explained, "The fact someone wants more to life than marriage and kids and doesn't want to conform says a lot about their personality but not much about their sexuality. Why lesbian vibes and not asexual vibes for example?"

"Just because she doesn't want to marry a man doesn't make her a lesbian. It makes her a woman who doesn't want to marry," supported another Reddit user.

Eloise Bridgerton marries Sir Phillip in Julia Quinn's books

When her best friend Penelope finds love, Eloise starts to doubt her choice of remaining single. Her fate changes overnight when Sir Phillip comes into the picture. He is a moody widower and single father. After an unexpected proposal, they end up together in Julia Quinn's novel.

In the Netflix series, Sir Phillip (Chris Fulton) is introduced at the end of season one. He reappears in Season 2 as Marina Thompson's (Ruby Barker) husband whom he has to marry after his brother, George Crane, dies during the war, leaving Marina pregnant.

Sir Phillip has been missing in Season 3: Part 1 and it is highly probable that he won't appear in Part 2 as well.

With Phillip married to Marina and missing from the narrative in the current season, we wonder if the creators have diverted from Julia Quinn's books to give a twist to Eloise's love story.

What does Claudia Jessie say about her character in 'Bridgerton'?

Jessie enjoys it when people make speculations about her character. In a chat with Business Insider, she said, "I've always loved that there's this coding that people have with Eloise."

Hinting at the possibility of a queer love story, she added, "There's a strength in her that I think a queer storyline can connect. And I've always been touched by that as a notion with Eloise. But yeah, there's definitely room for all of that."

While 'Bridgerton' Season 3 is all about Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton) and Penelope Featherington, we can hope that Eloise takes the spotlight in Season 4.

How to stream 'Bridgerton'?

'Bridgerton' is available to stream on Netflix. All the episodes of Season 1 and Season 2 can be watched by purchasing a monthly or yearly subscription to Netflix.

The OTT giant has also released four episodes of Season 3, and the rest of the episodes will drop on June 13, 2024.

'Bridgerton' Season 3 trailer