‘Bridgerton’ Breakout Star Nicola Coughlan Claps Back At Haters Who Criticized The Show’s Diverse Cast

Nicola Coughlan doled out the best response to haters who thought ‘diversity in period drama doesn’t work,’ taking to Twitter to point out just how popular the Netflix show has become!

Nicola Coughlan wasn’t here for the criticism on Bridgerton‘s diverse, inclusive casting. The Netflix breakout star of Derry Girls and the aforementioned series, 33, took to Twitter on January 5 to respond to haters who thought a diverse cast in the period drama series wouldn’t “work” on the show. “You know the way some people were like ‘Diversity in period drama doesn’t work’….63 million households thought it did tho so,” she tweeted adding a skull emoji.

Doubling down on her response, Nicola even retweeted a January 4 statistic from the Netflix Queue account, which read, “In its first four weeks, Bridgerton is projected to court more than 63 million households, which would make it Netflix’s fifth biggest original series launched to date.” Of course, Nicola wasn’t quite done with her brilliant retort.

“Remember people were trying to downvote the show on IMDB cos it was so diverse?” Nicola added to her thread. “You can’t downvote us being [Netflix’s] fifth biggest original release ever,” she proudly said. Nicola received a ton of support from fans, with some saying the show has become a total “game changer,” and some revealing how much they “appreciate” seeing such diversity and inclusion on screen!

Bridgerton, created by Chris Van Dusen, executive produced by Shonda Rhimes, and based on the book by Julia Quinn has quickly turned into a sensation since debuting on Netflix on December 25. The sexy and scandalous period drama centering on the Bridgerton family during the debutante season in Regency London’s high society has become a favorite watch by many Netflix subscribers. The show also features the voiceover work of Julie Andrews, who offers her voice as the mysterious Lady Whistledown, the pen name for the scribe of a salacious newsletter that circulates among the society elite.

There’s no word quite yet if Bridgerton will return for a second season. But after such a dramatic  and succesful inaugural season, it may only be a matter of time! As for Nicola, fans would love to see the actress return to her role as Penelope Featherington. Prior to her role on the Netflix series, Nicola captured the hearts of audiences on the series Derry Girls, in which she played Clare Devlin. Her credits also include a seven-episode stint on Hulu’s Harlots, and a small role in the 2013 film Svengali.