Spoilers for Season 3 of Bridgerton and the book When He Was Wicked are ahead. If you want to watch the show, you can stream it with a Netflix subscription.
When it comes to the book-to-screen adaptations of Bridgerton, change is expected. However, one of the biggest changes the show has made so far came when it quietly set up an LGBTQ+ romance for Francesca by gender-swapping Michael Stirling for Michaela Stirling. Now, the author of the books, Julia Quinn, has spoken out and defended this change amid intense backlash.
Julia Quinn Defended The Choice To Switch Michael To Michaela Stirling
It came as quite a shock to many when Michaela was introduced at the end of Season 3. So far, the Bridgerton characters and their love interests' genders have stayed the same as they are in the books. However, this change sets up Francesca’s story to be about her falling for John’s cousin Michaela – who is a man named Micheal in the books – after John dies.
Quinn took to Instagram to discuss this change and why it was made. She defended showrunner Jess Brownell and walked through the discussions they had about this. Here is her full statement:
In her statement, Quinn discussed how “committed” she is to making her stories “more diverse and inclusive” as they are adapted, and she noted that she spoke with the showrunner at length about changing Michael to Michaela.
She also said that when she wrote the book, she fought for John’s chapters. The first four chapters of When He Was Wicked show Francesca and John’s love story as well as Michael’s love for his cousin. As she said:
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.
The author wrote that John has already gotten more screen time in the show than he did in the book, and she thinks Francesca’s season will be “the most emotional and heart-wrenching story of the show.” However, despite her being on board for the change and asking fans to have “faith,” there is still a lot of backlash.
Some Bridgerton Fans Are Incredibly Mad About This Choice
The backlash this change is getting seems to stem primarily from people worried about it fundamentally changing Francesca’s story, not necessarily the fact that it’s now an LGBTQ+ romance, although there are homophobic comments too.
In the books, Francesca and Michael meet before she marries John, and he falls for her as she’s about to marry his cousin. They also spend a lot of time together up until John’s death. The rest of the story focuses on them finding love, and those initial chapters help invest readers in both the characters and the love they’ve had for each other for a long time. In the show, Francesca meets Michaela after she marries, so it’s unclear how their story will be altered.
Many fans are convinced the decision to change Michael into Michaela will be bad for the story, and they made their opinions clear in Quinn’s comment section. For example, one person wrote:
If you want LGBT characters, create new stories, and don't destroy the ones that already exist
gi.olivieri16
Others, also made their disapproval clear to the author and the series, writing:
- NO NO NO!!! This is the most disappointing change story ever. -nisakhaiir
- There are thousands of ways to include the LGBT community, they did it so well in Queen Charlotte, but here in this situation, story and context they not only ruined and wasted a series with a lot of potential that was having success, but they also destroyed and They ignored a love story and a book so loved by fans. -fiorellaacedres
- Nope 👎🏻 will definitely skip that season. I love the books to much to be ok with this change -alexand25528113
It’s important to note that there’s also a lot of support for this change, and lots of fans are very excited to see a season of Bridgerton that is focused on an LGBTQ+ relationship. The series is one of Netflix’s most binge-able shows, and many are thrilled that it's using its platform to represent all people.
As Quinn said, they’re asking fans to have “faith” in them as they craft this story, and we’ll learn more about how Francesca’s romance is handled when Bridgerton Season 4 comes out sometime in the next few years. While we don’t know who the lead will be (our guess is it’ll focus on Benedict), we’ll likely get more development around Francesca, John and Michaela’s tale, giving fans more insight into how When He Was Wicked will be adapted.
