‘Bridgerton’ Author Defends Show’s Gender-Swap Twist With Michaela Stirling

When He Was Wicked

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[The below contains Spoilers for Bridgerton Season 3 and the book When He Was Wicked.]

Bridgerton took its biggest swing in the show’s Season 3 finale episode as a pivotal book character was introduced in a gender-swapped role as Michaela Stirling (Masali Baduza), who was known as Michael Stirling in Julia Quinn’s When He Was Wicked.

While the series has never shied away from taking deviations from the source material — ranging from the diversely populated Ton to Benedict’s (Luke Thompson) bisexuality — Bridgerton has remained fairly faithful to the main couples featured in each season, at least when it comes to gender, and with the introduction of Michaela, this is about to change.

For those who haven’t read the books, we’re about to delve into spoilers, below. As viewers saw in Season 3, Francesca (Hannah Dodd) met her husband John Stirling (Victor Alli), but that wasn’t the end of her love story. In Quinn’s When He Was Wicked, John dies and ends up falling in love with his cousin, Michael, who is now Michaela. Teasing the promise of a lesbian romance in the show’s future.

Needless to say, the change has elicited some strong reactions from book readers, but Quinn is standing by the Shondaland adaptation of her work in a statement to her readers via Facebook.

“Many Bridgerton fans have expressed their surprise, and for some, disappointment in the twist at the end of Bridgerton Season 3 — that Michael Stirling, with whom Francesca eventually falls in love in When He Was Wicked, would instead be Michaela. Anyone who has seen an interview with me from the past four years knows that I am deeply committed to the Bridgerton world becoming more diverse and inclusive as the stories move from book to screen,” Quinn began.

“But switching the gender of a major character is a huge change, and so when Jess Brownell first approached me with the idea of turning Michael into Michaela for the show, I needed more information before conferring my agreement,” the author admits, noting that the decision wasn’t made without consideration. “I trust Shondaland’s vision for Bridgerton, but I wanted to be sure that we could remain true to the spirit of the book and of the characters. Jess and I talked for a long time about it. More than once. I made it clear that it was extremely important to me that Francesca’s abiding love for John be shown on screen.”

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Quinn goes on to explain how she fought to see John and Francesca’s love represented in her novel before Francesca eventually falls for Michael in the book, and that was an important factor for the TV show as well. “I felt that if I didn’t show how deeply she loved John, and how deeply Michael, his cousin, also loved him, then their feelings of guilt at falling in love with each other after John’s death made no sense. I didn’t want to just tell the reader that they loved him. I wanted the reader to feel it,” Quinn continued.

“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,” Quinn acknowledged. “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.”

While Quinn thanked her readers and fans for their “feedback,” she added, “I ask that you grant me and the Shondaland team some faith as we move forward. I think we are going to end up with two stories, one on page and one on screen, and they will both be beautiful and moving.”

Bridgerton, Seasons 1-3, Streaming now, Netflix