The 'Bridgerton' Cast Compared Lady Whistledown to Deuxmoi

Fair readers, have you re-watched Bridgerton's first season to prep for the show's return in March? If you haven't, you've still got time, but for anyone who can't get enough, the cast spoke to Entertainment Weekly about the hit show and how the Regency Era drama happens sans social media, which is what drives so much of what goes on with people's lives today — ahem, who's following who, now?

Nicola Coughlan, who fans know as more than just Penelope Featherington, earned a comparison to Deuxmoi, the Instagram account that reports anonymous tips on Instagram, thanks to her role as Lady Whistledown.

"When Bridgerton came out, I was like, 'No one's going to watch,' and then it snowballed. Then Kim Kardashian said it's her favorite show. We're 'besties' now on Instagram," she said of the show thrusting her into the spotlight even more than her role on Derry Girls.

Claudia Jessie, who plays Eloise, was the one who called out Coughlin as the old-school Deux. "We're still doing the same stuff," she said. "Where they would go to dinners or balls, we just do it with social media. It shows how adorably pathetic we are. We want validation or escapism."

And Coughlan agreed, saying that while Deux may be relatively new on the scene, the idea of sharing tips — ahem, gossip — isn't. Bridgerton proved that there's an appetite for scandal and salaciousness and it's something Coughlan says empowers her character in a way that was generally not seen in the patriarchal society of Regency England.

"She's the most powerful woman in London," Coughlan said. "Often, we perceive gossip as a very modern invention — but it really isn't. When women had no agency in their lives, this was all they were deemed to be good for. So why be ashamed to participate in it?"

Charithra Chandran, who plays Edwina Sharma, agreed, saying, "One could argue that the negative perception of gossip is a misogynistic feature to prevent women from communicating and sharing knowledge."