Dearest readers, Penelope and Colin's love story will 'captain the ship' in Bridgerton season 3

Brace yourselves, Lady Whistledown may be getting her very own Lord Whistledown soon.

The next Bridgerton couple to see their love story take off is going to be Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton) and Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan). The Netflix series has ditched the original order of the books, creating its own ladder to cover the Bridgerton siblings' life stories.

The leads for season three, the characters who play Colin and Penelope, took to their Instagram accounts on May 16 to share the big news they've been keeping to themselves.

"Like Lady Whistledown, I’ve been keeping quite a big secret for quite a long time … but I can finally tell you that Bridgerton season three is Colin and Penelope’s story," Coughlan captioned the post.

Onscreen Lady Whistledown addressed her fans and shared a longer note on her Instagram story. "I've been keeping the season three secret for so long, I can't believe it's finally coming out in the world! Bridgerton fans, I hope we do you proud captaining this ship! We're very nervous and excited, and can't wait for you to see #Polin's story."

"Looks like the cat's out of the bag! Bridgerton season three will follow the story of Colin & Pen! See you all soon," wrote Newton.

The period drama based on Julia Quinn’s books does not follow the alphabetical order of the Bridgerton siblings as in the books. Instead, it covered Daphne's story first and then jumped to Anthony. Now, it's skipping on Benedict and moving straight to Colin's story which makes sense because he's had more of a story arc and screen time with his love interest, Penelope.

SPOILER ALERT - Read at your own risk!

Another reason as to why the focus has shifted to Polin may be the premature revelation of Lady Whistedown's identity, which is another plot point that strays from the story development in the books. This weighs in on the need for acceleration in Penelope's story, especially after season two ended with a devastating twist to Polin's dynamic, when she overheard Colin, who she has been interested in for years, say that he would never marry her.

Creator Chris Van Dusen stepped down as showrunner following season two, with Jess Brownell stepping in.

“Bridgerton will always have a special place in my heart and I think I did what I set out to do,” he told RadioTimes in March. “The fact that this show has become Netflix’s biggest English language speaking series ever is something I’m incredibly proud of, and something I’ll always be incredibly proud of. But at the end of the day, you know, it was time for me to move on, and hopefully create that magic again in the near future.”

Season three will also observe a change in the role of Francesca Bridgerton, who has been replaced by Hannah Dodd. She was previously played by Ruby Sokes who landed the lead in Netflix’s Lockwood & Co. and had to leave the Bridgerton family.