The course of true love rarely runs smooth on Netflix smash hit Bridgerton.
Yet away from the cameras, co-stars Bessie Carter and Sam Phillips have struck up a romance, with the cute couple so serious that they moved in together last year.
MailOnline can reveal that despite their characters not interacting on the show, the actors began dating after meeting on set of season three.
Filming for the series began in July 2022 and wrapped in March 2023, with Bessie moving into Sam’s flat in Brighton three months later.
Bessie, 30, plays the role of Prudence Featherington on the hit Netflix show, while Sam, 39, plays Nicola Coughlan’s character Penelope’s new suitor Lord Debling.
Bridgerton’s Bessie Carter and Sam Phillips ARE dating and have secretly moved in together after romantic holidays
Sam has been dropping hints about their romance, uploading snaps of himself and Bessie wearing the same white fluffy robe while enjoying a holiday at a beach house
The pair have been photographed at several events with her family, including alongside Bessie’s famous mum Imelda Staunton and dad Downton Abbey’s Jim Carter.
The furthest back they have been pictured was in May 2023 where they looked cosy at a theatre event – suggesting they could have been together a good while.
Rumours recently began to swirl on TikTok that the pair could be an item, with one content creator posting a recent video titled: ‘Bridgerton co-stars that are dating in real life’.
Many were quick to comment on the rumours as one said: ‘Okayyyy featherington sisters bagging the hot ones!’
Another said: ‘They’re so cute!!’, while a third penned: ‘I love this so much!’
Representatives for Bessie and Sam have been contacted by MailOnline for comment.
The pair were first pictured together in May 2023 as they attended the Theatrical Consequences: The 5th Annual Platform Presents West End Gala after party at Tequila Mockingbird in London.
Then in November 2023 the pair attended the Wonka premiere together with Bessie’s famous actress mother Imelda, 68.
They posed as a trio with Imelda stood in the middle – suggesting Sam had been introduced to her side of the family some time before.
Bessie revealed she’d moved home last year when she shared a snap of her packed up boxes in a slideshow of images with the caption ‘Aggy as HELL August (with some fun times with great pals and cats etc xox)’
In the same slideshow of snaps, she posted an image of Sam spending time at an allotment
She tagged a picture of a kitchen with Sam, who confirmed it was his abode by sharing another snap of the same kitchen captioned ‘home’
It should’ve been clear that the pair were together when they posted identical snaps of the view from time in Barcelona, yet while Bessie posted on her grid, Sam just added to Stories
Bessie kept coy with the fact they were on holiday together in September 2023 as she just posted the back of his head in a picture
Rumours recently began to swirl that the pair could be an item, with one content creator posting a recent video titled: ‘Bridgerton co-stars that are dating in real life’ (pictured in May 2023)
Bessie, 30, plays the role of Prudence Featherington (left) on the hit Netflix show, while Sam, 39, plays Nicola Coughlan ‘s character Penelope’s new suitor Lord Debling
Then in December 2023 Bessie her famous dad Jim, 75, accompanied Sam to The Crown season 6 finale celebration event.
He plays the Queen’s Equerry Stephen Chambers in season 3 and 4 of Netflix’s The Crown.
Bridgerton made its comeback last week.
And according to What’s On Netflix the hit romance series is back and better than ever as it pulled in a shocking 45.1M views within just four days of going global on Netflix.
Within its first four days, Bridgerton Season 3 Part 1 reportedly scored 165.20 million viewing hours, equating to 45.10 million views.
Netflix described the views from the opening four days as ‘only the beginning’ and teased more to come.
In a press release released by them, they said: ‘Spring has sprung, which means it’s finally #Polin (not pollen) season. Part 1 of Season 3 of Shonda Rhimes’ Bridgerton debuted at #1 on the English TV List, racking up 45.1M views.
‘The series, which stars Nicola Coughlan and Luke Newton, was #1 in 78 countries and reached the Top 10 in 92. And this is only the beginning.
‘With Part 2 set to release on June 13, who knows how high this wallflower will climb? PSA for the millions of fans having post-binge withdrawals: find yourself a support group, put on some music, light a candle and get into something comfy – more of the carriage-style scenes you’re craving will be here shortly.’
It comes after Nicola showed off her kooky sense of style in a red satin dress with a dramatic hood as she continued the Bridgerton series three promo trail in Brazil on Monday.
The actress, 37, joined her onscreen lover Luke, 31, for the screening at the Municipal Theater of Rio de Janeiro.
The pair star in the Netflix smash hit Bridgerton as Penelope Featherington and Colin Bridgerton, with season three following their journey from friends to lovers.
The pair have been photographed at several events with her family, including alongside Bessie’s famous mum Imelda Staunton and dad Downton Abbey’s Jim Carter
In December 2023, Bessie her famous dad Jim, 75, accompanied Sam to The Crown season 6 finale celebration event
The pair were first pictured together in May 2023 as they attended the Theatrical Consequences: The 5th Annual Platform Presents West End Gala after party at Tequila Mockingbird in London
After fans tuned in to watch the first part of the series, which dropped last week, Nicola spoke about the one sex scene she felt most pressured to get right.
‘The fans are horny little devils and they used to send us pictures of carriages constantly and carriages rocking,’ she said.
‘So, this has to be both beautiful, touching, romantic and sexy, which is a lot of things. In her mind after the kiss, it’s just she’s messed it up completely and she’s like, “He will never fancy me. He doesn’t fancy me. It’s embarrassing. I’m going to move on,”
‘There’s no part of her when he gets in that carriage that thinks anything like this is gonna happen.’
Season three of the show dropped last Thursday morning, with eager fans settling down to devour the latest antics of the Regency-era romantics.
The romp-fest came under fire for its lack of steamy scenes in the second series, with a meagre three minutes of bedroom action amid eight hours and 29 minutes of screen time.
Viewers can already expect more from the first four episodes of series three, with at least six minutes of kissing, sex, threesomes and lesbian love-making.
But after being promised that this season is the steamiest yet, viewers are made to wait until the closing moments of part one for the central love story to really kick off.
Series three focuses on the will-they-won’t-they flirtation between Penelope and Colin, but the plotline of best friends realising their true feelings proves to be a slow burner.
Bessie is seen with her parents Imelda and Jim in 2016
It ends on a steamy cliffhanger as after being unable to think of anyone else, Colin eventually declares his love for Penelope in a carriage after she was left heartbroken by Lord Debling.
The pair finally give into their passions, with Colin lifting up Penelope’s dress in the back of the carriage for a very steamy finale, ahead of part two dropping on June 13.
Just as the fans are begging for more, even the characters in the new series are left wanting.
Portia (Polly Walker) urges her daughters to get pregnant as questions surround their family fortune, and is seen asking her girls: ‘Must we tell a baker to bake?’ leading to the Featherington sisters competing in the bedroom to be the first to make an heir.
