Jess Browning thinks the gender-swapped Michael was the most natural choice.
Until the finale of the third season, Bridgerton was mostly praised for its departure from the source material, Julia Quinn’s books. For example, at the end of Romancing Mister Bridgerton, Penelope completely abandons her alter ego Lady Whistledown. And in the show, Pen chooses to abandon only the pen name.
She does not give up her writing and reveals her cards: now the author is known, and her name is Penelope Bridgerton. This step turned out to be much better than the book version, but this is not the first and not the last difference from the original source.
One of the other positive changes, of course, is Colin Bridgerton. While in the books he was quite rude to Penelope and in one scene even squeezed her hand so hard that it was bruised, on screen Colin always acted like a noble knight.
Moreover, in the book, Colin only falls in love with Penelope after she loses weight. This does not happen in the show (thank God). We are made to understand that weight changes are far from the most compelling reason to pay attention to a girl and see her personality.
Michael’s Sex Change Caused a Backlash Among Fans
However, one change has caused a storm of controversy among fans, and that change is Michaela Stirling. The gender switch of Francesca’s future love interest has caused a backlash on the show, and here’s how showrunner Jess Browning responded:
“The fact of the matter is, the fan base is not a monolith, and you’re never going to please every single side of the fan base. In, for example, deciding to tell a queer story with Francesca, I spoke with Julia Quinn, I got her blessing.”
But even though Browning had the “blessing” of the author, the replacement of Michael still raises too many questions. What upset fans was not the fact that Michael was gender-swapped, but the fact that a large part of Francesca’s story, specifically her infertility issues, is now in danger of being cut out.
