Simone Ashley has revealed that Bridgerton series three will have even less sex in it – after the second season massively toned down the racy action.

It comes after yesterday it was announced that the third installment of the Regency drama will focus on Colin Bridgerton and Penelope Featherington’s love story.

Speaking at a photocall for the next series – which will begin production this summer – Kate Sharma actress Simone, 27, told how steamy scenes will be less in abundance.

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Oh dear! Simone Ashley has revealed that Bridgerton series three will have even less sex in it – after the second season massively toned down the racy action

It comes after some fans were disappointed in the lack of sex in series two, with only one sex scene featuring in total, which didn’t come until episode seven.

The second season was in sharp contrast to the first which featured a number of raunchy moments between Daphne Bridgerton and The Duke Simon.

At the red carpet photocall in LA on Monday Nicola Coughlan, who plays Penelope, disclosed a long-held secret about season three that involves her character and Colin (played by Luke Newton).

According to Variety, she said: ‘Like Lady Whistledown, I have been keeping a secret for quite some time and I can confirm to you all that season 3 is Colin and Penelope’s love story. I have kept that secret since two weeks into season 2.

Exciting: It comes after yesterday it was announced that the third installment of the Regency drama will focus on Colin Bridgerton and Penelope Featherington’s love story

Secrets: At the red carpet photocall in LA on Monday Nicola Coughlan (pictured), who plays Penelope, told how she will be the main focus of the next series with Colin

‘This is the first time I am saying it here.’

The show is fast forwarding ahead and skipping the third book, for now, in order to delve into the fourth book’s romance of Colin and Penelope for season three.

The series had followed the first two Julia Quinn novels in sequence for the first two seasons, with season one following Daphne’s (Phoebe Dynevor) love story with Simon (Regé-Page Jean), and season two geared towards Anthony Bridgerton’s (Jonathon Bailey) romance with Kate (Simone Ashley).

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Yay! According to Variety, Nicola said: ‘Like Lady Whistledown, I have been keeping a secret for quite some time and I can confirm to you all that season 3 is Colin and Penelope’s love story

So far, there’s no official word on the status of Julia Quinn’s third book, which focuses on Benedict Bridgerton’s love life, and whether it will be the topic of a season in the future.

At this point, the show has been greenlit for seasons three and four, which happened simultaneously in April 2021.

At the photocall, Simone strutted out in front of photographers in a skin-tight brown minidress that hugged her toned curves.

Toned-down: Kate Sharma actress Simone, 27, told at the photocall how steamy scenes will be less in abundance

She also wore brown animal-print heels, and pulled her dark curly locks off her shoulders and into a bun.

According to Variety, series creator Chris Van Dusen stepped down as showrunner following season two, and Jess Brownell has stepped into the position.

Season two, consisting of eight episodes, dropped all at once on Netflix on March 25.

So far, there’s been no official word on exactly when season three will debut on the streaming service.

Plan: The show is fast forwarding ahead and skipping the third book, for now, in order to delve into the fourth book’s romance of Colin and Penelope for season three