Deadline reports that Netflix’s Bridgerton has added Jacqueline Boatswain (Wolfblood, Shameless), Tega Alexander (Red Eye, MobLand) and Gemma Knight Jones (Sunray: Fallen Soldier, Going Dutch) to the ensemble cast of its upcoming fifth season. The three will feature alongside the season’s main romantic pairing of introverted middle Bridgerton daughter Francesca (Hannah Dodd; Harlots, Eternals) and Michaela Stirling (Masali Baduza; Noughts + Crosses, The Woman King) as the series’ first same-gender lead couple.

Season five of Bridgerton, from Deadline, takes place two years after the death of Lady Francesca Stirling’s (Dodd) dear husband John (Victor Alli; Death on the Nile, Gangs of London) from the previous season.

mxdwn has previously reported on the series, including recently in late March when production was officially announced to have begun. Filming is currently underway in London.

Per the series logline from Deadline; “Two years after losing her beloved husband John, Francesca decides to reenter the marriage mart for practical reasons. But when John’s cousin Michaela returns to London to tend to the Kilmartin estate, Francesca’s complicated feelings will have her questioning whether to stick to her pragmatic intentions or pursue her inner passions.”

As listed by Deadline, Boatswain will play Helen Stirling, Alexander will play Christopher Anderson, and Jones will play Lady Elizabeth Ashworth;

Helen Stirling (Boatswain) is Michaela’s mother, a crucial character to the Stirling daughter’s spirit and personal identity. With a healthy dose of vivaciousness and tough love in equal measure, this mother seeks to guide and push her daughter through the treacherous waters of London’s social season.

The roguish casanova Christopher Anderson (Alexander) hides a torrent of self-doubt behind a cheeky facade that could make the prior Bridgerton bachelors look tame, seeking to make his mark on society one way or another.

Michaela’s old friend and playfully charming Lady Elizabeth Ashworth (Jones) serves as a London guide and trusted confidante to the Stirling daughter – a grounded, wise realist to the unspoken rules of society.

Contrary to the order of the source novels, Deadline noted that Netflix and Shondaland elected to center the fifth season on Francesca, followed by her younger sister Eloise (Claudia Jessie; Line of Duty, Defending the Guilty) to lead the series’ sixth season. The fifth season draws inspiration primarily from series author Julia Quinn’s novel When He Was Wicked – Francesca’s story – with the male lead Michael Stirling gender-swapped for Michaela, creating the live-action series’ first central sapphic storyline.

Per Deadline, Bridgerton season five is executive produced by Betsy Beers (The Catch, Station 19), Jess Brownell (Inventing Anna, Scandal), Chris Van Dusen (Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice), Shonda Rimes (For the People, The Residence), and Tom Verica (Zodiac, How to Get Away with Murder). Brownell is also credited as showrunner for the eight-episode season.