• The first trailer for season four of “Bridgerton” dropped on Christmas.
• The next season will focus on Benedict Bridgerton’s love story with Sophie Baek (Yerin Ha). 
• Returning cast members include Luke Newton, Nicola Coughlan, Jonathan Bailey, and Simone Ashley.

Get your masks ready: Season four of “Bridgerton” is coming to Netflix in 2026. Part one premieres on January 29, and part two will come a month later on February 26.

This season will follow the story of Benedict Bridgerton and Sophie Baek in a “Cinderella”-esque tale.

Season three of the Netflix series, which centered on Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton) and Penelope Featherington’s (Nicola Coughlan) relationship, concluded with the release of part two in June 2024.

In giving Polin a happy ending, “Bridgerton” also teased that Benedict (Luke Thompson), the second-eldest sibling, would get the main character treatment next season. His status as the lead has officially been confirmed, and new details are slowly being announced — and now, fans are able to watch the first trailer for season four as a Christmas present from the streamer.

Here’s everything we know about season four of “Bridgerton” so far.

Benedict’s love story will be the focus of season 4

An official announcement about Benedict being the season four lead was made in July 2024. In a video posted by Netflix, Thompson is handed a suit for the masquerade ball. But eagle-eyed fans weren’t surprised, because this was all teased in the season three finale that aired in June.

As Eloise Bridgerton (Claudia Jessie) prepared to head off to Scotland with Francesca Bridgerton (Hannah Dodd), John Stirling (Victor Alli), and Michaela Stirling (Masali Baduza) in the episode, she assured Benedict that she’d only be gone until next year.

“Do you think Mama would ever let me miss her Masquerade Ball?” she said.

Benedict, still not ready to settle down, replied, “I will be there, hiding out behind a mask, avoiding eligible ladies like the plague.”

That not-so-subtle moment was a nod to Benedict’s novel “An Offer from a Gentleman,” which is part of Julia Quinn’s “Bridgerton” book series.

In the third “Cinderella”-inspired book, Benedict meets a woman named Sophie Beckett at a masquerade ball. Unbeknownst to him, Sophie is a servant to a rude stepmother named Araminta Gunningworth. By the end of the novel, they express their love for each other and get married.

The show has changed Sophie’s last name from Beckett to Baek to reflect actor Yerin Ha’s Korean heritage.

“A name is the first bit of identity that you share with the world, and that’s why changing a name can be so powerful,” Ha told Tudum. “To make Sophie’s name fit someone who looks like me is really empowering. All credit to Jess Brownell, our showrunner.”

Netflix’s official logline for next season reads: “The fourth season of ‘Bridgerton’ turns its focus to bohemian second son Benedict (Luke Thompson). Despite his elder and younger brothers both being happily married, Benedict is loath to settle down — until he meets a captivating Lady in Silver at his mother’s masquerade ball.”

Here’s the first full official trailer for the fourth season.

‘Dune: Prophecy’ actor Yerin Ha will play Sophie Baek, Benedict’s love interest

Ha was most recently seen on the Paramount+ TV series adaptation of the “Halo” video game franchise and HBO’s “Dune” spin-off series “Dune: Prophecy.”

Despite the character being based on Cinderella, Brownell assured fans that Sophie is “no damsel in distress.”

“She is someone who has chess moves and is always thinking two, three steps ahead,” Brownell said at the “Bridgerton” virtual fan event called “Season of Love” in February 2025. “So she’s absolutely gonna throw Benedict for a loop.”

‘Harry Potter’ actor Katie Leung is among the new cast members

Katie Leung, who played Cho Chang in the “Harry Potter” film series, will portray Lady Araminta Gao.

Her character description reads: “Twice-married and twice-widowed, Araminta has two daughters debuting on the marriage mart this season and she’s feeling the pressure to get at least one of her girls married off. Fabulous, discerning, and blunt, Araminta does not respond well when anything — or anyone — threatens her standing in society.”

Michelle Mao will play Rosamund Li, Araminta’s eldest daughter who’s “beautiful, vain, and eager to please her mother.” According to her official description, Rosamund will be vying for Benedict’s heart when she hits the marriage mart.

Isabella Wei will play Posy Li, Araminta’s youngest daughter, who’s described as kind and chatty.

Luke Newton and Nicola Coughlan are back as Colin and Penelope Bridgerton in season 4

At the “Season of Love” event, Brownell said that the new installment will show Colin as a “wife guy” and the couple raising their baby, whose name has yet to be revealed.

Brownell previously told TheWrap that she’d like the pair to continue on the show beyond season four because she thinks there are more stories to be told. Newton similarly told Teen Vogue that he’s committed to staying on the show indefinitely.

Brownell elaborated on Polin’s place in season four in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, saying that the couple will shift to being part of the larger ensemble.

“I do think that there is a bit more to tell story-wise with Whistledown,” she said. “Whistledown has been the narrative glue of every season. Now that Penelope’s out publicly as Whistledown, I want to see more of what that’s like. So, we will continue with them next season for sure.”

On December 21, the “Bridgerton” X account announced that Colin and Penelope’s newborn son, Elliot, would be part of the season’s story.

In addition to the confirmed returns of Coughlan and Newton, Julie Andrews will also be back as the voice of Lady Whistledown.

Jonathan Bailey and Simone Ashley will also appear as Anthony and Kate Bridgerton

Kanthony fans have been wondering how long Kate (Simone Ashley) and Anthony Bridgerton (Jonathan Bailey) will stay on the show after leading season two.

Previous season leads have largely stepped away after their story arcs concluded, but Anthony and Kate are the new heads of the Bridgerton household, which means they have to stick around.

In season three, Anthony and Kate show up in four episodes, often disappearing on trips around the world. The show writers likely did this to explain the characters’ disappearance so Ashley and Bailey could film other projects (Bailey, in particular, was pulling triple duty, also working on “Wicked” and “Fellow Travelers”).

In season three, episode seven, Anthony and Kate leave for a trip to India so Kate can visit her home and give birth to their first child. Though this looks like a convenient way to write the couple off the show entirely, that’s not the case.

Brownell told Entertainment Weekly in June that Anthony and Kate heading to India allows the two actors to work on other projects “while still leaving the door open for them to return when and if they’re able.”

“So the India send-off is a plot device in certain ways that allows us to leave the door open,” she said.

And the “Bridgerton” virtual event in February 2025 officially confirmed that Bailey and Ashley are indeed returning, including both in the official cast list for season four of “Bridgerton.”

Fans will see “more of their marital bliss and seeing their baby as well,” Brownell said.

However, fans didn’t get a glimpse of them in the first trailer.

Hannah Dodd and Victor Alli will be back as Francesca and John, too

After tying the knot at the end of season three — and meeting her husband’s intriguing cousin, Michaela — Francesca and John will be back for at least the beginning of season four before heading back to Scotland.

Fans of the book series know that Francesca’s time as the series’ main character is coming. Her book, the sixth in the series, is called “When He Was Wicked.”

We won’t spoil the story for anyone who hasn’t read Julia Quinn’s books (though you can read about Francesca’s book here), but it’s safe to say that the show made one of its biggest departures from the book series when it introduced John’s cousin, Michaela. In the novel, John’s beloved cousin is named Michael.

Season 4 will expand the storylines of other ‘Bridgerton’ characters

At the virtual event, Brownell teased where fans will see the “Bridgerton” characters at the start of season four.

The showrunner alluded to Lady Violet Bridgerton (Ruth Gemmell) continuing her flirtations with Lord Marcus Anderson (Daniel Francis) and moving beyond the giggling that defined their season three interactions.

Violet will also be busy trying to prepare her unmarried kids for the future. While Francesca got married last season, her siblings Eloise and Hyacinth (Florence Hunt) haven’t reached that milestone yet.

“Violet is once again trying to put Eloise on the marriage mart and she’s absolutely dreading it,” Brownell said.

On the flip side, Hyacinth “is desperate to pre-debut early. And the two of them get paired together this season for comedic results.”

Meanwhile, Gregory (Will Tilston), the youngest son, is “going to get sent off to Eton for a little while, but that gives him time to come back no longer a gangly teenager but a young man.”

As for the rest of the Ton, Brownell said that fans will see more of Queen Charlotte (Golda Rosheuvel), who has a new dynamic with Penelope now that she knows who Lady Whistledown is. Additionally, season four will expand on Queen Charlotte and Lady Agatha Danbury’s (Adjoa Andoh) relationship.

Lady Danbury, who often vacillates between meddling and advising other characters, will help Will (Martins Imhangbe) and Alice Mondrich (Emma Naomi) navigate a new challenge as they settle into being members of society.

This isn’t the last we’ve seen of Cressida Cowper

Season three of “Bridgerton” gives more insight into Cressida‘s (Jessica Madsen) difficult home life and the lengths she’ll go to in order to get out of her situation.

During the season, she attempts to take credit for Lady Whistledown so she can receive the reward money and avoid marrying an older man, but the plan backfires. Then, when she learns that Penelope is Lady Whistledown, she attempts to blackmail her with the intention of using the money to escape town and avoid being sent off to live with her aunt in Wales.

But Cressida is outsmarted and is last seen being sent away in a carriage to live with her relative after tarnishing the Cowper family’s reputation.

In separate June 2024 interviews with The Hollywood Reporter, Entertainment Weekly, and The Los Angeles Times, Brownell said that Cressida’s story isn’t over yet.

“It felt a little early in this season for her to get a happily ever after just because we’ve watched two seasons of her being a real bully to Penelope. She has a little bit more growth to do, but I do want to give her a happy ending eventually,” she told EW.

“We want to see more from Jessica Madsen,” Brownell told THR. “So we wanted to leave her story a little bit more open-ended so that we can craft an ending for her in future seasons.”

Showrunner Jess Brownell said the season 4 theme is ‘forbidden love’

At the virtual event, Brownell said that every season follows a romantic trope, and season four is all about “forbidden love.”

“That class clash gives us a very serious obstacle and the stakes could not be higher this year, so it’s really a juicy one,” she said.

“The theme of the season is really about true love being somewhere in between fantasy and reality,” Brownell added.

The new season will delve into Benedict’s status as a member of high society and Sophie’s role as a maid. And after spending three seasons focusing on the happenings of the wealthy characters, season four will broaden the world to follow the working-class characters below them.

“Because you are now so familiar with the upstairs, I think viewers know just how difficult a pairing between a gentleman and a maid will be,” Brownell said.

Ha said that Sophie’s job as a maid at Penwood House, where she works for Lady Araminta, is high stakes.

“Living under that Penwood House is a mode of survival for her because if she doesn’t, then she has nowhere else to go,” Ha said. “I think it also highlights just how hard it was being a maid in that era. You mess up and your life can turn upside down in a second, and I think we’re trying really hard to portray those dynamics.”

Brownell said that the all-important masquerade ball where Benedict and Sophie meet will be “a very large chunk of the first episode.” She also said that the aesthetic of the ball was inspired by William Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and the vibe is “dark and mysterious and fairytale-like.”

Fans can see a glimpse of Benedict looking enamored by Sophie at the masquerade ball in a sneak peek clip posted by Netflix in May.

Aside from the masquerade ball, season four will pull additional elements from the book, like My Cottage — which is Benedict’s countryside home — and a nearby lake that fans of the novel will be familiar with.

“I do think that this season is the most faithful to the book,” Brownell said. “It really lends itself to adaptation plot-wise. It’s very similar.”

Still, some aspects were changed for the Netflix adaptation, like character motivations.

“Benedict is quite different from the book just in that Luke Thompson brings this wonderful sensitivity and self-awareness to the character,” Brownell said. “So in Benedict’s story of trying to woo Sophie, I think the character is a bit more delicate and thoughtful, perhaps, about the way he goes about it.”

Season 4 of ‘Bridgerton’ premieres on January 29

Brownell told the Los Angeles Times that they chose to film the season during the fall partly for storytelling purposes, but also out of practicality.

“It’s still going to be just as lush and colorful, but just more in those warm fall colors instead of the pastels,” she said. “There will still be some pastels, so it won’t look like a totally different show.”

Netflix confirmed that season four will consist of episodes, just like the past installments. The two parts will air on January 29 and February 26.

In addition to the coming fourth season, “Bridgerton” has been renewed for seasons five and six.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

• More older Americans are returning to work due to financial insecurity and rising costs.
• Surveys show many retirees fear their savings won’t last through retirement.
• Experts have called for stronger support and flexible job opportunities for older workers.

It may be increasingly common next year to see an older worker staffing the cash register at your local grocery store.

Surveys released in recent months suggest that older Americans are more worried about having to unretire, fearing their savings won’t last them 20 to 30 years. US Bank’s 2025 Wealth Report, released in September, shows that nearly two-thirds of Americans worry they may have to reenter the workforce, while 58% of people believe their money will last them in their retirement years.

This is echoed by ResumeBuilder.com‘s survey of 3,574 Americans aged 65 and older, released last week. The survey reveals that nearly one in eight plan to rejoin the workforce in 2026 or already have. Over a third of older Americans still working don’t plan to retire until the next decade. About 4% of older Americans surveyed are applying for jobs, while 8% returned to work over the last few years. Slightly over 70% reported being retired. These findings are similar to the past two iterations of the survey.

And a third survey from AARP Research from October found that 6% of retirees went back to work in the past six months due to a negative economic outlook.

Over the past year, I’ve spoken to over 250 older Americans, most of whom still work. The majority said they never retired or unretired because of financial uncertainty. Some lived paycheck to paycheck with limited savings and no defined-benefit pension plan. Others had six figures in the bank but knew the money would run dry if they faced a sudden diagnosis or emergency. Many others worked because they wanted to feel fulfilled, have a purpose and a community, and stay active.

As Americans reflect on 2025 in its final week, many retirees are calculating and stress-testing if they have enough to endure various financial situations. For those falling short, unretiring may be the best option.

In 2021, the Bureau of Labor Statistics outlined that the labor force for Americans 75 and older is expected to grow by upwards of 96% through 2030. Census Bureau data shows that in 2024, nearly 20% of people 65 and older worked at least part-time.

To be sure, the unretirement rate from pre-COVID through mid-2024 has steadily declined from 3.2% in late 2018 to 1.9%, which suggests older workers are struggling to rejoin the labor market.

My 80 Over 80 series, which explored why people continue to work into their 80s and 90s, found that 4.2% of Americans 80 and older work, the highest it’s been in decades. Many unretired after months, years, or decades of not working.

These recent surveys, as well as some from earlier this year, show that retirement is elongating as life spans grow — and may be harder to achieve in the coming years.

“Because of the rise in costs, people’s fixed incomes, their Social Security benefits, aren’t enough to cover all their expenses,” said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a Democrat from New York, in an interview with Business Insider. “We know that 47% of workers lack access to employer-sponsored retirement plans, and 55% report no dedicated retirement savings. We know that many seniors won’t have enough money to retire comfortably.”

Americans want to retire, but actually doing so is a different story

Surveys published this year continue to show that Americans prioritize a healthy and stable retirement. However, many aren’t taking the necessary steps to get there, and many aren’t in financial or employment situations to do so.

The US Bank report found that 37% of working adults are actively preparing for retirement, while 48% of Americans contribute to their retirement savings. Nearly a quarter of Generation X respondents said they have abandoned their goal of retiring. Three-quarters of millennials and Generation Z worried about needing to come out of retirement, as many of the traditional milestones — buying a house or starting a family — feel harder to grasp.

This year hasn’t done many favors for older Americans, either. The Resume Builder survey found that 54% of older Americans who still work or are unretiring cited the high cost of living, while a similar amount said they enjoyed work. Inflation has remained stubbornly high this year, registering at 2.7% for the 12 months ending in November. Inflation has been higher than the overall average for housing and various medical expenses.

The survey further found that over a quarter of older workers were nervous about potential Social Security changes, while a fifth were concerned about Medicare changes.

“For many seniors, retirement has become more flexible than final,” said ResumeBuilder.com‘s chief career advisor Stacie Haller in the survey release. “At the same time, today’s workplace offers far more flexible opportunities for older professionals.”

Faced with a difficult job market, though, many older Americans said they won’t relinquish their job because they anticipate not being able to find another, citing factors such as ageism. The AARP Research survey found that nearly two-thirds of older workers believe it would be challenging for them to find another job, especially since older workers already experience longer stretches of unemployment on average than younger people.

Others who unretired said they’ve opted for part-time employment or gig work, which were easier to secure and maintain. A few returned to school or took online classes to improve their skills in hopes of finding more stable employment.

To be sure, many of those still working into their 70s, 80s, and 90s told Business Insider that they wouldn’t retire even if they had the means to. However, dozens said they wished they could work fewer hours, more flexible hours, or in a different profession that didn’t wear them down as much.

‘No shame’ in returning to work

Throughout the year, experts on retirement and aging stressed that returning to work was not something to view as shameful. Research papers overwhelmingly show the benefits of continuing to work in one’s later years, such as sustained cognitive function and improved mental health outcomes — provided the worker has flexibility and can handle the job.

These insights seemed to put some older readers at ease. In interviews, dozens of workers in their 80s said they felt like a failure for not being in a position to retire or pass down a significant inheritance to their children, though hearing that they weren’t alone made them feel more confident. In responses and emails to my articles, some older readers said they considered going back to work after reading about many people who successfully did so.

Dozens of politicians, researchers on aging, and anti-ageism advocates said more should be done in the short term to ensure older Americans have the employment opportunities they need to live comfortably and have more financial support to guide them through their later years. To be sure, some experts said that returning to work shouldn’t be the long-term solution, as the safety net should be more robust so people only need to return to work if they desire.

“A lot of our older adults need resources to survive, and so we want to make sure that the workforce is available to them, and they won’t be discriminated against from being hired and working if they need to,” Gillibrand said in reference to the Protecting Older Americans Act she co-introduced.

• I explored a Maryland amusement park that was abandoned over 50 years ago.
• Nature has since taken over parts of Glen Echo Park — and so have artists.
• Some eerie attraction structures from the park remain and have been revived by local artists. 

A theme park on the banks of the Potomac River outside Washington, DC, was abandoned over 50 years ago. The grounds are quiet, the attractions are empty, and long vines cover portions of the art deco structures.

I’m talking about Glen Echo Park, in Glen Echo, Maryland.

I visited in 2022 and found remnants of the park that once was, as well as an artists’ hub that has developed since it closed.

• Natalie McCarter is a 43-year-old mom to two whose husband died in February 2019.
• She is thankful to have so many photos and videos of her husband from their last Christmas together.
• For months, it was only her kids who kept her going.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Natalie McCarter. It has been edited for length and clarity.

The Christmas of 2018 was blissfully normal with my husband, Ray, and our two kids, then 7 and 9.

On Christmas Eve, the kids had new pajamas, a family tradition, and as usual, I took plentiful pictures and videos of them enjoying the night. But unlike previous years, I told Ray to get in so I could capture him with the kids, and he did, singing and smiling.

That night, Ray and I stayed up late having a bit of wine and wrapping Christmas presents together. In the morning, we told the kids they could wake us when the sun came up, which they did; all of us then moved downstairs to open our gifts. Later in the day, we hosted our annual Christmas dinner at our house. Both of our families were there.

We were in such a good place. Our relationship was strong, Ray had just taken a new job at the Pentagon, and we were in our dream house with our kids. I wasn’t expecting this to be our last holiday together.

He died 2 months later

Nearly two months later was Valentine’s Day, a day I had always considered a consumer marketing holiday, but we celebrated it with a takeout dinner and a movie on our projector. That night, Ray said we should renew our vows for our 12-year anniversary, which seemed a bit odd as it wasn’t a particularly special number of years. We started planning how we’d take a cruise to celebrate, inviting our closest friends to come along.

The day after, I took the kids to an evening event, and Ray went to a friend’s house to hang out. As the kids and I were about to head home, I called Ray to check in — it was a phone call that lasted eight minutes and 36 seconds, just catching each other up on the day.

He ended it with “Love you, baby.” That was the last time I would ever hear Ray’s voice.

Later that night, once the kids were in bed, I tried calling and texting Ray — he wasn’t answering, which was unlike him. I tried not to worry, tried not to think the worst. I’d already lost my mom, my dad, and my brother — surely, I wasn’t due any more loss.

I kept telling myself to just go to sleep — he’d be on his way home soon. I couldn’t sleep, just lay there texting and calling him, asking him to let me know he was OK.

A little after 4 am, I heard a knock on the door. It was the police, and I could tell, I could tell. The way they were looking at me, they didn’t even have to say anything to me. I told them to go away; I didn’t want to hear what they had to say.

Ray had been hit by a drunken driver and was killed coming home that night.

I’m an advocate for people not to drive under the influence

I now beg people to make safe choices on the road, and keep other people accountable when they have been drinking — call them a ride or drive them home. Any distraction or impairment — alcohol, but also phones — could easily cause death and destruction behind the wheel.

If speaking of my experience of loss spares another friend, partner, child, sibling, or parent, then Ray’s legacy becomes a light instead of just a loss.

For six months, I kept convincing myself it was all a nightmare I’d wake up from. I just wanted to disappear, because I’d lost a limb I’d never get back. It was only my kids who kept me going.

As another Christmas without Ray comes around, I’m so thankful to have all the video footage and photos from our last Christmas with him. We’ll always remember Ray, but memories do fade. Seeing and hearing him keeps his memory fresh.

It doesn’t matter what people look like in photos; it just matters that they are in them to remember, no matter what happens. Because cliché as it sounds, tomorrow isn’t guaranteed.

Take the photo. Record the video.

• An atmospheric storm caused heavy rain across Southern California over Christmas.
• The National Weather Service warned residents of ‘life-threatening’ floods and mudslides.
• Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in six counties.

Heavy rain and fierce winds from an atmospheric storm slammed Southern California on Wednesday, flooding roads and triggering mudslides as authorities urged parts of the region to evacuate.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, and Shasta counties on Wednesday. Some areas had already received 4 to 8 inches of rain by Wednesday morning, according to the National Weather Service.

Another wave of the storm was expected to hit on Christmas Day, with flood and wind advisories for “life-threatening” storm conditions from the National Weather Service remaining in effect until Thursday afternoon.

Over 163,000 homes and businesses across California were still without power on Christmas morning, according to poweroutage.us.

Earlier in the week, the Redding Police Department reported one storm-related fatality in Northern California. Two more deaths occurred in South Sacramento and San Diego, CNN reported.

Photos show the storm’s damage across California.

• Pavel Durov, the founder and owner of Telegram, is worth $17 billion.
• The messaging platform has 1 billion users and is worth $30 billion.
• Durov has faced legal trouble in France, where authorities have held him responsible for illegal activities on Telegram.

Editor’s note: This story first published in March 2022. It has been updated to reflect Telegram’s most recent financial figures, its user numbers, and Durov’s legal trouble.