Put down the pen and quill, Bridgerton fans, because next season, Lady Whistledown is about to step into the spotlight. At a Bridgerton FYC panel in Hollywood this weekend, Lady Whistledown herself, Nicola Coughlan, announced that season three of Netflix’s regency romance series will focus on the budding relationship between Penelope Featherington and her crush, Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton). 

For fans of the Bridgerton novels written by Julia Quinn this may come as a surprise. Penelope and Colin’s love story is told in fourth book in the series, Romancing Mister Bridgerton. The third book, An Offer From a Gentleman, follows the love life of bohemian artist Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson). But the smash-hit series is forging its own path, bumping Colin and Penelope’s love story up a season. “It is only fair that in this author’s third year chronicling the marriage mart, Mayfair’s social season should find its focus on a third son… as well as a third daughter,” Netflix tweeted to announce the news. 

Penelope and Colin, or “Polin” as fans of the couple refer to the pair, follow in the footsteps of second season love interests Lord Anthony Bridgerton (Jonathan Bailey) and Kate Sharma (Simone Ashley). Their romance led the series to become Netflix’s most watched series ever, besting the record held by Bridgerton’s first season, which starred the Duke of Hastings (Regé-Jean Page) and Daphne Bridgerton (Phoebe Dynevor). 

Given how they left things at the end of season two, Polin has a long way to go to reach happily ever after. After growing closer over the course of the season, Penelope overhears Colin telling a group of his friends that he would “never dream of courting” Penelope, causing her to leave a ball, heartbroken. 

Switching up the order of the books is not the only major change Bridgerton’s making ahead of its third season. Creator Chris Van Dusen has stepped down as showrunner, with Shondaland veteran writer/producer Jess Brownell taking over for the third season. Ruby Sokes, who played Francesca Bridgerton, has also exited the show after landing the lead in Netflix’s new series Lockwood & Co., and will be replaced by Hannah Dodd. Time will tell what other changes lie in store now that Lady Whistledown is taking center stage in her own story.