Bridgerton‘s Masali Baduza and Hannah Dodd explained why the controversial Francesca and Michaela gender swap was necessary to the show.
“I understand that the Bridgerton book fans are very passionate about these characters, and I am too,” Baduza, 28, told Refinery29 Australia after season 4 concluded on Thursday, February 26, noting how “proud” she is to tell a queer story on screen.
Baduza noted that “everyone’s story deserves to be told,” adding, “I love Michaela so much, and I am just very proud to tell the story alongside Hannah. In Bridgerton, a lot of the characters are growing into themselves and learning new things about themselves.”
She continued: “I think that the show accepts that, I think it’s important for everyone else to accept that too, and hopefully that can be reflected back into society.”
‘Bridgerton’ Cast and Crew Discuss Gender-Swapping Francesca’s Love Interest
Dodd, 30, also pointed out that Julia Quinn‘s book When He Was Wicked is still there for fans who miss Michael.
“The book will always exist as well, [but] I’m really, really excited to tell this story and also give it the platform it deserves, like a leading story line, not additional characters,” Dodd told the outlet, with Baduza saying, “Everyone deserves to be represented. I think we’re excited to see these stories get told.”
Season 3 of the hit Netflix series previously expanded on Francesca’s love story by having her meet husband John (Victor Alli) during her debut into society. The couple were already married and making plans for the future when she met his cousin Michaela, who becomes Francesca’s future love interest. (In When He Was Wicked, Michaela is actually Michael.)
Despite facing some backlash from some readers, showrunner Jess Brownell revealed that it was always the plan to explore Francesca’s sexuality.
“The reveal of Michaela vs. Michael — from the books — is something that I’ve been pitching from season 1 of the show,” Brownell told Teen Vogue in June 2024. “My approach to telling a queer story on Bridgerton has been to look to the books for thematic cues. I didn’t want to just insert a queer character for queer character’s sake.”
Brownell clarified that she received support from Quinn before making the change.
“The fact of the matter is, the fan base is not a monolith, and you’re never going to please every single side of the fan base,” she continued at the time. “In, for example, deciding to tell a queer story with Francesca, I spoke with Julia Quinn, I got her blessing.”
Brownell added: “We talked about the fact that with almost any single book, there would be a side of the fandom that would be disheartened to see their favorite characters changed. I don’t think that there is any book that wouldn’t happen with, so for me, again, it came back to story, and it came back to character.”
Quinn issued her own statement addressing frustrations with how her novel was being adapted.
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“I’m confident now that when Francesca has her Bridgerton season, it will be the most emotional and heart-wrenching story of the show, just like When He Was Wicked has always been the true tear-jerker of the Bridgerton book series,” she wrote via Instagram in June 2025. “Honestly, it may pack even more of a punch, since John is getting a lot more time on the screen than he ever did on the page, and I think it’s fair to say we’ve all fallen a little bit in love with him.”
As fans caught up with season 4, Brownell defended other deviations from Quinn’s novels — including the decision to cut Francesca’s pregnancy and miscarriage story lines.
“Ultimately, I think John’s death and the funeral are already in so many ways such a departure from the tone of the show,” Brownell told Swooon.
Brownell referred to the miscarriage as “too morbid,” saying, “We’re still very interested in honoring the fertility story line. It’s something we tried to honor this season, and we will continue honoring in her future season. But yeah, the miscarriage just felt like, for the screen, a bit too far. I think it would be difficult for Fran to come back from all that.”
Bridgerton is currently streaming on Netflix.
