Nicola Coughlan praised for Bridgerton sex scene – despite it being 'unnecessarily long'

Warning: Spoilers ahead.

Bridgerton got off to a steamy start on Thursday (13 June) when Netflix dropped the second instalment of season three – and people can't stop talking about one particular scene.

Colin (Luke Newton) and Penelope (Nicola Coughlan) share a passionate scene on a chaise lounge chair, with a reimagined cover of Ariana Grande's 'POV' playing in the background.

The scene itself was five and a half minutes long and is estimated to be the show's longest intimate scene as well as marking a Bridgerton-first of having a female lead fully nude.

Coughlan has since been flooded with praise online, with one X/Twitter writing: "This scene is much more than just sex. It is Colin who accepts Penelope for the powerful woman that she is, the woman who is in control and he who loves and venerates her for this. This season has been so important for us women."

Another added: "Nicola Coughlan did not lie. this was truly the BEST sex scene of the Bridgerton universe and just like Penelope I too was left wanting more of it."

Meanwhile, many more commented on how long it was: "Why is Colin and Penelope's sex scene five thousand years long?"

Elsewhere, Bridgerton's intimacy coordinator Lizzy Talbort took to her Instagram with a photo of the two actors.

"Been waiting FOREVER for this to come out! It might be my most favourite work picture I’ve ever taken. You just KNOW it’s going to be a great scene when something like this happens," she wrote.

"You absolutely SMASHED this season in every sense of the word and it was a total joy and privilege to work with you,” she said, referring to Newton and Coughlan.

"Two of the kindest people to ever walk on set. We knew we had something special and it’s just incredible to get to share it. This was a scene I won’t ever forget and couldn’t be more proud of everyone involved."

In a previous interview, the pair joked they had "broke furniture" during the scene.

Coughlan told Buzzfeed UK: "Yeah, we did break it during a sexy scene because we were really going for it. We thought, 'This was so hot.'"

@nicolacoughlan/Instagram

“Part Two is out now, we put our heart and souls into it, hope you love watching it as much as we loved filming it," the Irish actress captioned an Instagram post with the hashtag, "#PolinForever."

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