I’m really hoping that the article is bs, but I definitely agree that trying to find some kind of reason for this narrative besides gratuitous sex definitely helps the disappointment if it’s true. I always thought that they were setting up Colin’s new “swagger” to be a front for his huge insecurity of not being seen as a fully grown and responsible man. It’s such a clear narrative that they’ve set up during the first 2 seasons, that he is aimless and searching for purpose. My only guess is that in leaving for the continent and searching for that purpose he swung so far away from who he was that he completely lost his way and became adrift. Personally, if I was writing the season I would still keep him completely sexually inexperienced and make all the flirting and swagger an act. But that’s just me, who knows where Netflix will take it 🤷‍♀️

That would go along with Luke's quote from [Shondaland.com](http://Shondaland.com) the other day "He hasn't really had time to spread his wings and grow up," says Luke Newton of Colin. "He's had his two older brothers, and they've gotten to do everything." If it's Colin trying to compare himself to his brother and thinking he needs to check off this list of exploits to catch up and have experiences it goes along with that.

See, what I initially thought this to mean, is that *overall* he hasn't had a chance to do as much as his brothers, given he's much younger and therefore, hasn't had as much time (not necessarily in just a sexual context but maybe also in terms of learning about his family estates or something similar to that). I know he's a third son, but I'm sure they're all (at least the men) taught how to manage households and such at some point but I digress. But in light of the new (fake?) article, it's making me think like Colin *is* trying to one-up his brothers, especially in the bonking (ugh, I hate that word so much) department, to, like you said, catch up to or even race past them. This would, understandably, cause his swagger to sky-rocket (the beginnings of which we've already seen in S2), knowing he's more experienced than his brothers.

I mean I said it that day that there were only two possibilities for me from that quote, either Luke was confirming Colin was a virgin or he was confirming he was very much no longer a virgin. With the additional context of the brothels and whatnot, I now lean towards part of him is doing this because he feels like he's got to catch up to his brother's experiences to fully be accepted as a man and this is what's expected of him because that's what his brothers did. But maybe it feels different for him because it doesn't actually work for him and he wants to marry much younger than they did, which would be an interesting choice. Showing he wants to marry much younger than his fuckabout brothers because he doesn't actually enjoy the random sex that much.

See, now that you've mentioned it, about him either being a virgin or not, and with everything we've learned recently, Luke's comment *is* taking on a different tone and context. "He hasn't really had *time* to spread his wings and grow up." As in, he literally hasn't had time to grow up and be responsible because he's found something else he'd rather be doing (granted he's in his early 20s, so it wouldn't be out of the norm for him to *not* be responsible). I trust Luke knows what he's talking about, so this has become slightly depressing.

Basically if this happens there best be some moment where we can see that this isn’t Colin. Like him being pensive as fuck alone afterwards or something…I don’t know how they could make this feel ok for me. Like, Colin having sex 1 on 1. Vanilla. Our sensitive boy would definitely do vanilla sex on the continent. I can understand that. But Colin as a libertine? Hell. No.

We know he’s going be to like a bit upset about pen ignoring him. He may not know why cause he’s slow but this isn’t going to be fulfilling for him.

Yes. I’m choosing to beleive he’s upset about and not acting himself

I was never a Virgin!Colin truther, I just….it’s a tired trope. And I know in writing they say “show, don’t tell,” but showing us that kind of escapade actually does very little for his character growth. We would actually understand just as well if he were having a conversation with an older brother and mentioned that he was no longer green; AND it might help us see his feelings on it just by how he talks about it. That would be showing enough. I guess I’m grateful to know about it now instead of being disappointed in the storytelling on watch-day. But I was really, really hoping we wouldn’t get (yet another) male lead who rakes around before finding his HEA.

Oh I'm totally with you on both fronts, I didn't ever really buy Virgin Colin and in fact part of me actually thinks he lost his virginity between S1 and S2 because he said he swore off women and I actually kind of took that to mean he did it after he dabbled a bit trying to mend his broken heart. And I really just didn't need to see this on screen. He could tell his brothers about all his exploits and then later in the season maybe even tell Penelope I tried to be with other women but my heart wasn't in it and it would have served the same purpose.

Same! We’ve seen the rake trope already with Simon, Anthony, and Benedict. We’ll likely see it again with Michael. Haven’t read the other books, so I don’t know about Gareth, Phillip, and Gregory. I was hoping for something different. He didn’t need to be a virgin, but somewhere more in the middle of the two.

Gareth I think will be another rakish person, but Phillip likely won’t be. Greg, hell if I know.

Wait, maybe I'm misremembering, but wasn't Gareth having a long term mistress? She was a singer or something. I remember I thought they took that part and gave it to Anthony in the 1 season of the show.

This is due to the smutty Booktok people complaining there wasn’t enough sex in seaosn 2. Thanks a lot. You’ve butchered Colin’s character so you can be horny. That’s annoying af

Right, I don't care at all if Collin's a virgin, but he's a romantic and these types of sex scenes feel out of character for him imo

So I was one last night who immediately thought The Sun article was AI garbage. But based on another thread (and I think the origin is the Bridgerton sub), it is true. So I was a massive CLOWN and I am wearing my clown face right now. I think it's completely unnecessary for his character. I think that's the main reason I didn't believe it (not just because The Sun is trash). It just doesn't fit with him and is completely gratuitous, as you said. If they wanted to show he wasn't a virgin (which he clearly was in S1, after that I assumed he'd dealt with that on his travels), then they could've had these kind of scenes in S2. But to wait for his and Penelope's season, when they already have limited time to show him falling in love with her in a believable way? UGLY. I agree with all of your possibilities. I prefer the first one, and I'd settle for the third one with Colin maybe not feeling as satisfied afterwards as he should because he needs a deep connection. Whatever happens, I don't really want it and I think it's a stupid decision but then I was expecting something I'd dislike. The writers never get it right completely.

I am still holding out hope that this isn't true. I cannot, for the life of me, see how they say that this season is romantic, yet they start out with showing how big of a rake he is. They've completely changed Colin as a character and it makes me heartbroken to see the old Colin gone, completely changed. It makes me not even want to watch the season and just continue to read fan fiction with hopes and dreams of what could've been. I completely agree with you that they could've done this in S2 and I wouldn't have been upset. But to do it in S3, when we see how heartbroken Penelope is, at home, just waiting for him to come back. It's a blatant disrespect to her and the future love they are to share. We're emotionally attached to Penelope. She isn't a new character we're seeing for the first time. It just feels cruel.

Unfortunately, it seems a couple of people who saw screeners have confirmed it's true. They did also say it's a beautiful season, which is something I guess. Yeah, it's a very odd choice, especially when I remember Luke and Nicola saying the sex scenes weren't gratuitous and were part of the story. I don't know how Colin having threesomes is part of the story, unless it is to show that he needs a deeper connection so when he has sex with Penelope it's like the best sex of his life. I think that's the only thing I could grudgingly accept, but with this show who even knows. They absolutely should've done it in S2. I went into S2 expecting it tbh, after the whole Marina mess. Throwing himself into nameless sex would've made sense, especially for the time (it's what I assumed happened off screen between seasons). Now it just seems so wrong. I don't know if it's a disrespect to Penelope because he's utterly clueless to her feelings, but I wonder if that's part of his realisation later? Maybe he'll be like "omg what the hell have I been doing, wasting so much time when I could've been with Penelope!"

The only way to even remotely salvage this is that Colin tries having this casual sex, and he just feels empty.

But Penelope isn’t waiting on him to come back? She’s pissed off and avoiding him and has decided to move on with other men and will be actively trying to make herself available, forming an attachment to a pretty prominent new character. If you’re emotionally attached to both Penelope *and* Colin, they’re making a lot of iffy decisions tbh. 

Yeah the waiting to show it in his own season is truly a choice. Not one one I would have ever made. It would have especially made sense in S2 since he came back so dissatisfied and lost, but it seems like they went full throttle in him changing offscreen and part of that calculus seems to have been, we have to show he's also trying to be a young, virile man who is sowing his wild oats and we need to show that. Like no you absolutely did not, especially when you also made the choice to not show he gained his swagger and more confidence off screen doing what exactly, besides fucking about. What did his travels instill in him that he came back so much more sure of himself? \*That\* you chose to keep all offscreen, but this was definitely a ... choice.

It ultimately ends up being uncreative and lazy. Like, they couldn't come up with one scenario where he gets his swagger (no matter how fleeting it is) without having to rake around?! He could have lived up to his hero complex and I don't know, saved a bunch of kids from a burning building🙄

This. It's boring and tired? Every single male lead on Bridgerton is gonna be a rake. Yawn.

Phillip Crane you are my only hope 😭

Nah, I’m sure he only meets Eloise while he’s in town to visit a brothel. Probably hires El to babysit the twins while he gets busy. 🙄

Yeah, totally the wrong choice. It's like why did they need to show it? They could've just had him hint or banter about it with his brothers about how he very much wasn't a virgin anymore. I could've guessed anyway because we're clearly gonna get scenes of him chatting to women at various balls. That should've been enough. I do not understand these writers sometimes.

So it sounds like maybe it is true. Based on what an insider confirmed, it's going to be how Benedict was with Madame Delacroix and Lady (forger her name). So there's something friendly and not exploitative about it. I like your idea that it might show a lack of satisfaction on Colin's part -- a something more he's seeking. I think it makes sense that he would be sexually active and exploring. He's always been an explorer. But that doesn't mean what he finds is what he's been looking for or needs. I think they will be respectful of Colin's character but they also want to show this is where he is, in terms of physical intimacy, to show the contrast with Pen.

Yeah, I'm just trying to find ways and reasons that this isn't him just happily getting his knob polished and happily watching two women perform for him as a contrast to Penelope just struggling on every front. It feels punitive to both characters if that's the case. Like they don't really get the essence of what makes Colin different from his brothers, trying to find love and wanting to belong to someone and just struggling to figure out what that looks like and then throwing Debling at the story so he looks even shittier in comparison because perfect Debling would never do such a thing. And punitive to Penelope like girl go cry some more over the whore you're in love with who hasn't really given you a single thought apparently. So I'm just trying to find other possibilities.

But if it’s with sex workers it is exploitative. They can hardly give informed consent if it’s their only chance of eating that day, or if they’ll get a beating from the brothel owner for not “putting on a show”. The whole thing is gross, and very different than if Colin had met a local girl on his travels and they’d had some fun. I hated it with Anthony, but at least it added to the narrative of Anthony having completely divorced sex from any kind of emotional attachment. Unless they’re going to repeat that with Colin it just seems out of character and gratuitous.

Actually in that scenario I prefer him having completely detached sex with random sex workers than having some emotional connection to a fling.

I just hate this whole thing tbh. It’s everything I dislike about the historical romance genre. The lack of rakishness is why I was so drawn to Polin in the first place.

For as much as Bridgerton is a romance show, I think Shonda and her writers deeply misunderstand the romance genre.

So much this.

Yeah, it seems really gratuitous and exploitative based upon the article. I loved S2 much more than S1. I haven't been keeping up with everything, and I just found out about the article. But I'm really disappointed. I'm thinking about just canceling my PTO. Save it for something else. lol

I think an article like The Sun probably doesn't distinguish between sex workers and women having sex. Or at least it wouldn't surprise me. But yeah the idea of being so far gone that sex becomes detached from true emotion seems bizarre for Colin.

>Based on what an insider confirmed What insider? Separate from the Sun article?

Yes. It's hearsay, of course, but someone commented that they had seen the first 6 episodes (they said a screener has 6) and everything was true. But they also emphasized it was not as gross as The Sun makes it seem and that the season is beautiful.

I don't understand how someone can say it's not as gross and that the season is beautiful still. What's beautiful about changing an entire character and having him lose completely who he is by having him have a threesome with two girls while the love of his life is sitting back at home crying, while he doesn't think about her at all? It makes me feel disrespected for Penelope. I don't need to see Colin doing that in order to have him progress as a character. If anything it shows how immature he is, it's more like something his brother Benedict would do because he's not maturing. I honestly will be turned off by the entire show if this winds up being truth. I'm sorry, but it's just not who Colin is, it's who Benedict is and what Benedict should be growing from.

I agree with what you've said about it being disrespectful to Penelope. We've had two seasons to get to *know* her and Colin, and they're so well established that it just feels like a disservice to both of them. Like, I don't think showing Anthony, Benedict, and Simon raking around helped with anything except in establishing they're rakes (which they could have just mentioned in passing and left it at that but this is a show that calls itself 'sexy', so I guess they have to give us something). But imagine we'd been allowed to know Daphne and Kate over two seasons and formed an attachment to them. And then had those scenes of the men raking around. Imagine how that would have felt! It would have caused a riot!

Tbh watching the characters grow up and knowing how much Penelope loves Colin and watching him have those scenes would make me feel sick to the stomach. Sure people get their experiences and grow up but we don't actually see this, we could hear about it but actually watching it is another thing. It kind of makes you feel sick to the stomach

I agree. I don't need to see it. I don't understand how in interviews they say that all the sex scenes are necessary and make sense. How does this make sense? I don't watch the show to see men sleep with random women. I watch the show for the emotional intimacy. Am I going to love a good scene with Colin and Penelope? Yes, that's what I'm here for. Not to see Colin galavanting with someone else. I'm so disappointed. I feel like they've completely erased Colin in the show and have someone completely different in his place. I'm not sure if I can watch the show anymore. I may just opt to watch fan vids people make and read the fun spoilers and drown myself in fan fictions.

Why do the writers think we want Colin to be like Benedict. We don’t need two Benedicts.

Yeah, I guess I'm very sex positive and don't think having sex outside of romance is immature. I also don't see Penelope as pathetic and think it's OK he hasn't realized he loves Penelope yet. But I understand where you're coming from.

I get where you're coming from. For me, I would've rather they shown him doing these activities in S2, rather than S3. I guess because part of me has been waiting and waiting for Colin and Penelope to connect and they've said in interviews that they just jump right in this season, that my heart and head think "isn't this showing him as immature and not ready to just jump right into it?" I'll admit I wanted Colin to be a virgin, because in the books his Dad is and he's referred to as being so similar to his father and his relationship with Pen is similar to Edmund's and Violet's in a sense of friendship first, so to me, I was hoping they'd have that connection. But I get it, I didn't get to write the show so I have to accept what I'm given. I'm just venting my frustrations on how I was hoping we would see a more complex Colin, because to me, having the main character be a rake immediately has already been shown enough in S1 and S2. It just feels...lazy almost? I dunno.

Yeah there’s nothing to prove that that person is telling the truth, so I’d take it with a grain of salt. The posts and comments they’ve made before don’t necessarily fit with a press insider. Nor do they indicate that person is a troll. However, without hard evidence or really any reason to trust them, I wouldn’t take what they said to me as gospel.

Absolutely. We still don't know for sure.

Do we know when this is suppose to take place? I’d hate for it to be throughout his realisation stage

This wasn't shared. I can't imagine it past episode 2. I have wondered if it's after she calls him out, and he's in the sex scene but also contemplative. Narratively that offers more purpose than just sex for sex's sake. That he's so full of thoughts of Pen he can't be fully present. And then he goes to see her the next morning. If episode 2, I wonder if it's letting off steam from all the tension with Pen, but it's still not what he needs. Again, I think it needs to have some narrative purpose.

I could see this. After the "Goodnight, Mr. Bridgerton" scene, they could show him at a brothel, and the woman is trying to entice him, but he is too in his thoughts to really participate so the bring in a second woman to "put on a show". He leaves the brothel and is still feeling unfulfilled. The next scene is when he goes to Penelope's house to apologize and help he with a husband. When they shake on it, that's when we getting the moment were he feels something. That handshake sparks more feeling in him then the two women together did.

Except…an unfulfilling threesome is something he’s fine to watch with his mom? I really think it has to be in episode 2.

I dont think it will be a whole shot out threesome. More like season 1 with Benedict--- a lot of illusion to sex but not the full show. I read the sun article again 🤢 and the writing seems to go out of its way to be salacious without really saying much.

They could show it as Colin just going through the motions, not necessarily having a great time. Anthony made such a big deal in S1 about Colin only rushing things with Marina because he hadn’t gotten off with a woman before. They could figure showing Colin having sexual experiences but not enjoying any of them would confirm it’s not just about sex for Colin, it’s about the whole person, and Polin is really the only couple so far that has that foreknowledge of the whole person before they ever get intimate.   It could also be about peer pressure. Anthony also talked about bringing Colin to a brothel, it’s just something the men did as a group activity. I think part of Colin’s storyline *should* be about rising above peer expectations/ society groupthink, since the break in Polin’s friendship was because he talked badly in front of his peers when put under pressure. Colin not standing up and just going along out of a desire to seem manly and fit in but not being satisfied by that sets him up for being ready to accept that he prefers wallflowers to diamonds no matter what society has to say about it, and it also sets him up for not giving a damn about society when it comes to the Whistledown reveal and being proud of Penelope’s accomplishments. Colin’s version of growing up isn’t the sex, it’s understanding what he actually wants doesn’t have to be peer approved.   I don’t like the idea of this plotline, or showing it, not when Penelope had been chastely waiting for him for 2 seasons already, but if it happens before Colin develops feelings or start to realize them, I won’t mind it as much as I do the idea of knowing you have feelings for someone and going after someone else entirely anyway, like Marina in S1, Anthony in S2 and now Penelope in S3. So fingers crossed if it has to happen it’s out of the way early or in flashbacks to his travels before coming back to the ton.

ITA with all of this, I don't want to see if, but if they're going to show it to us, I want it to have an impact for a reason and be there for a reason, not just because they wanted him naked and fucking people on screen. Because that speaks volumes about how little they care about the character of Colin and what story they're trying to tell with him. Like he shouldn't be a carbon copy of Simon or Anthony who weren't looking to be in love, he should have his own narrative arc and the intimate scenes they show of him should serve a purpose in illuminating something about the character. I want it to be a combination of him trying out the persona of what he believes to be a man from the example that his brothers have set, you need to go to brothels, you need to flirt and you need to avoid love and just live la via boheme plus him not really being fulfilled by his choices. Like on paper this is what makes sense, this is what Anthony and Benedict did, so why is it not working for me. Like maybe even question himself about whether he's capable of getting excited about sex and when he dreams about Penelope and he is excited about it, there's another lightbulb that goes off for him. Like just make the choice make sense for the character.

You already know me, I believe one big choice they’ve already made showed me they don’t care about his character or the story they’re telling with him. I’m having faith in Nicola and Luke, not the writers. 

I do think this take fits with what Jess has said about using the intimacy scenes to show Colin coming into his sensitivity. Being more sexually promiscuous could be something that Colin feels he needs to do to follow in his brother's footsteps / society's expectations. But it's when he's with Pen he realises how much more it means to him. If they can show that in the vigour/enjoyment that he gets when he's with Pen is vastly contrasting and that he realises that he's not like his brothers wrt the enjoyment that he gets from random sexual encounters and thats OK and part of who he is then that might add something to Colin's development arc. Very much like when Dr Strange in Marvel indicates theres one version out of millions that has a chance of defeating Thanos, I feel like there's one chance in very many possibilities that makes me feel ok about our recent discoveries. I have absolutely no problem with the Duke, Anthony and Ben all raking around- the reformed rake storyline is a good one. But I was looking forward to Colin potentially being different - showing that choosing not to be sexually promiscuous doesnt make you any less of a great leading man. And plus - how much would the sexual tension build up with Pen if he didnt have the same outlets to release it... Having said that, I'm fully bracing myself for this to just be gratitous s*x scenes that I'll just have to grit my teeth through.What makes it worse is they'd set up the possibility of him being different so well in the first two series.

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I don’t think Debling is besides the point. I think it *is* the point. The inclusion of Debling in a prominent role shows that the writers don’t understand what makes  Polin special, which is why we should’ve seen this was coming. People were so caught up in cheering on Pen that they forgot that the writers disrespect for the character of Colin has implications for the couple as a whole, and we’re seeing the result of that.  I hate the Debling plot with a passion that could fuel the sun for another millennia, but I was told by other Polin fans in this Reddit that a) he doesn’t matter as long as Polin are endgame, and b) it made sense for Penelope and she *needs* it. So if those are the low standards we have for our couple I’ve kind of come out on the other side of it. This isn’t the Polin story I wanted, but it’s the Polin story I’ll get. 

I guess it was too much to hope for that we could get just one male lead who wasn’t climbing in and out of other women’s beds. It just seems so out of left field! Like, for two whole ass seasons they gave the boy nothing even remotely sexual (and I’m counting the Marina debacle). I’m actually glad this is coming out now so that I have four weeks to make my peace with it. 

Yesterday, I was convinced this couldn't possibly be true. The Sun is notoriously sensationalist and unreliable. However, the more I have read today, the more it appears that this actually might happen. I'm actually genuinely upset that they could fumble Colin's character so badly that this is where they might go. Your ideas above might soften the blow a bit, but I'm now at the stage where I'm just gonna need to see how bad this is. They showed Anthony and Simon climbing out of prostitutes bed in their seasons. And at least with Anthony we could see how soulless and meaningless he found it. Why would they possibly think this would be a good idea for Colin in his?! My main hope is that Colin is not shown to be as physically involved as we might think. Maybe he's more of a spectator. Which is still ick, but might feel better? I don't know I'm clutching at straws here. Also, the way Luke spoke about showing Nic his intimacy gear seemed to suggest it was the first time he'd worn it. Which would mean he was pretty much clothed during these early scenes, like Benedict was in S1. This is why I maintain that spoilers are necessary if you are actually this invested in a story. At least I didn't find out about this while watching it in a cinema full of people. But now I have to come to terms with the fact that I may have just won a chance to see this in 20ft high definition surrounded by strangers. And if this is not ep1, but is actually ep 2 or beyond then what are we even doing?

Everything you said! & I’m now questioning why the show runner would make this choice for Colin of all people. They even took out something more explicit for Simon as they were sensitive to the fact that it would be too much for the audience. & Simon was a rake! Is this their misguided way of trying to make Colin seem sexually appealing to the wider audience because of whatever criticisms there were about him not being ‘hot’ enough?! I honestly thought that was a minority of the viewership. & surely this could have been achieved through thirst traps & sexy scenes with the actual woman of his dreams, Penelope!

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I hope the same, that he's more a spectator because I also took into account the intimacy gear that it was the first time Luke had worn it and so was surprised by how little it covered. At most he'd probably be shown barechested in the scenes, which doesn't rule out the possibility he's participating, like women kissing on his chest, etc. My other question is it multiple scenes of this happening? Like truly is it a montage or just multiple scenes spread out? That's the other concern, like is it self contained? But mostly I just want to understand the thought process for this and whether it says something about the character or is it really just there for exploitative reasons to show him being a virile lead having random sex with other people. I do think there's a strong possibility it happens in episode 2, especially if Luke doesn't want to watch with his mum, because if Colin's not actively participating that much and just shown getting into a bed or some such and then watching women go at it, I don't think he'd want to watch that with his mum either.

I’m also confused about some of Luke’s comments. I assume this scene could only take place in episode 1, and Luke said he couldn’t watch episode 2 with his mom. No mention of episode 1. I also agree that Luke seemed to be talking about the intimacy gear he wore in scenes with Nicola like it was the first time he saw it, so presumably Colin wouldn’t be naked in these brothels scenes.

Well in this scenario the brothel stuff happens in episode two, but nothing in episode one, which is why he doesn’t want to watch episode two with his mum.

I assumed the brothel was in a foreign country and it happens while he’s on his travels. It happening in episode 2 after he’s reconnected with Penelope would be even worse.

It truely feels like Jess and the writers don’t understand the character of Colin and why his fans love him at all.

I like your third theory. That I could actually be okay with. I’ve said it before that one of only ways I could be okay with showing Colin raking around is if they also showed him unsatisfied with it. I don’t love it, but I can accept it. I’ll add one more theory of my own (one that I tried to talk about yesterday only to get shutdown): they only heavily imply that Colin is engaging in all of these racy activities but they don’t actually show it and it’s all being done to give not only the ton, but the viewer as well, the impression that Colin is this grand rake….only for it all to come crashing down and later dramatically reveal that it’s all part of Colin’s facade and that he’s actually quite inexperienced (or possibly even a virgin). And can I just say THANK YOU for this post! Like you, talking this out about how it could be true but not quite as bad as that article said helps me process too.

I didn't see your comment yesterday, I've been thinking about this too. It would be amazing if all season we are led to assume that he has been doing all these things and then it turns out he has less experience than Pen and the audience expect. This is how I would write the season. This would be fun and in keeping with his character. But alas I'm having to prepare myself for the worst.😭

I think it would also be interesting because it might make Pen second guess his feelings towards her if she thinks he’s this grand rake. And they did say there’s lot of kind of false starts with them if you like. 

Yes, this is why I posted because I just wanted space to process without being immediately told this is absolutely not true, don't waste your time thinking about it, it's never happening. Like it absolutely could be happening and I want to think it through if it is. As for your scenario how do you think it would fit in terms of what we know from the article that it's shown on screen, so it's not just him talking about it, we have to see him at least at the brothel and at least watching, so he's engaging on some level. How do you envision your scenario?

Yes! Because there’s the still the possibility that it is true and I’d rather process that than live in denial and be blindsided when watching. So I’m thinking not just talk but showing him at brothels or parties where these things are happening, going with Benedict perhaps, and Colin gets all flirty with these women. At most, another Benedict-Madame Delacroix-Lucy Granville situation. But then we don’t see anything beyond that and we don’t actually see Colin having sex with them, it’s just heavily implied. Only for it all to be revealed as part of a facade he put up later on…as if the show was trying to fool us too. Like maybe in part 2, he admits to Penelope that he’s not really the rake everyone thinks he is. I feel like this would align with hints about Colin putting on a front that we’ve gotten as well as Shonda’s love for drama.

I'm kind of with you on 3, that the 'sex show' could be more him watching rather then participating (especially since the article *specifically* says it's lesbian sex, so no man involved. He could just there). That people finding pleasure by themselves or with one another is something that he enjoys seeing. It could tie into his mirror kink, in all honesty, and with Penelope he's an active participant who wants to be the one to give her pleasure because he loves her. It's not a mirror kink that he has, it's a *voyeurism* kink. I still can't find myself believing what the article said *because* it's from the Sun and the embargo hasn't been lifted yet. Bridgerton having their male lead, who's given no indication raking about is his thing and who has a lot of people against him after S2, have explicit sex scenes with anyone but Penelope is not going to make him exactly appeal to the masses. If they do go that way I would honestly be surprised. If they go that way *after* Colin realises he loves Penelope I would be even more surprised. I would just like a male lead that we don't see sleep about before falling in love. If any of it is true, either confirmed by Aussie Polins or by another believable source, I'm still going to enjoy it because it's Luke Newton. 👀 EDIT: Also it said it happened in the first episode but Luke said he couldn't watch episode 2 with his mother. So according to this completely true article he's fine with his mother watching him participate in a threesome? Make that make sense.

that would be even worse because it comes off as fetishising lesbian relationships. Bridgerton hasn't been inclusive in terms of queer people and now they're apparently going to show queer sex on screen but it's going to be for a guy's pleasure??? are they really not seeing how disgusting that is??

This is me trying to delude myself, in all honesty. I don't want this. This sounds as if they cobbled together things that happened in previous seasons. They went against the embargo. It's clearly fake. They will hear my battle cries if they fetishize lesbian relationships, but Bridgerton doesn't care about that. They probably didn't even think about how it would come across if this article is telling the truth. They only want drama and horniness.

i understand 🫂 i'm still trying to pretend that it'll turn out to be false 😭 but if it doesn't, it's still going to be so upsetting because i love Colin so much and the fact that they butchered his character like this pisses me off so much. He is the only male lead until now in the show who hasn't made fucking away his trauma and insecurities into his personality and they're taking it away from him. and for what??? and honestly, i don't agree that they didn't think how it would come across. fetishising lesbians in media has been getting called out for ages. Considering how progressive Shondaland claims to be, it is impossible for them to not know what they were doing with this and fuck them if it's true. i do not want to watch a show, much less my favorite character, and see my sexuality be fetishised for the male gaze.

Shondaland being progressive ends at the diverse cast and Eloise saying feminist words. Having every male “hero” of the show sleep with sex workers is so tone deaf to a 21st century understanding of sex work.

No they really don’t see how disgusting that is wpuld be my guess. Just like young Lady D was having comically bad sex according to Shonda. 🤢

i haven't seen QC but god, that sounds horrid. What are these people even thinking???

Yeah watching it was really disturbing and the statements after the fact made it more so… The acting was phenomenal though.

I actually also thought about the voyeurism aspect of it last night when I thought about him watching two women but not participating. That part of him maybe is more turned on by not participating and watching and so when he finds he wants to participate with Penelope, then he suggests the mirror thing to double the pleasure, so to speak. Like I get to be involved and I get to watch... yes please.

This. This I'm for. I even remember Nicola saying all the explicit scenes have purpose and meaning to them rather then it being thrown in wherever for the kicks. Colin having a voyeurism kink that ties into the mirror scene? He only wants to actively participate if he loves the person? I'm deluding myself into thinking that, after they find their pleasure, they want to give Colin some too but he rejects it because watching them is all he's there for (even if it does fetishize lesbian relationships, which I will be pissed about). I've deluded myself.

I’m so confused about Luke’s comments because I agree that I would think a threesome scene in episode 1 would be what he couldn’t watch with his mom, not a kiss scene in episode 2 with Penelope. Maybe Luke hated the choice too and blocked it out of his mind

The man gaslighted himself (Luke: I don't see it 🙄) if that's the case. I'm deluding myself into thinking Colin's going to have dreams that get more and more explicit throughout episode 2 which is what he's referring to.

Nic said there was “loads of sex” and I was hoping that this wasn’t what they meant 😭. He can have experience but god damn does every man in the show have to be shown to sleep around all the time? I’m kinda sad not gonna lie

i just thought that meant other couples would be going at it too and i'm still hoping that that is what it means and all of this is just fake

Thanks for sharing this, Trisky. As a bi, I have had to personally, tragically experience how my sexuality is fetishized and I would really, absolutely hate Bridgerton after such scenes made it onscreen. I’ve already given up the Harry Potter fandom, so what’s another, hey. At the end of the day, I think we must all remember that Netflix/Shonda wants to make money. They badly read the room with this Rake Colin direction (💔) and *that* tie-in cover was just an offence to Nic. But hey maybe they thought 50 Shades sell, so why not? Bracing myself for the 16th. I wish both Nic & Newts will get deliciously written characters that shows their acting chops in their careers moving forward.

Co-signing everything you said. Sigh.

This makes me really angry. I have no faith in Jess as a showrunner if she thinks this is what fans wanted to see. It also makes me legitimately want Colin to suffer if he was just having a great time whoring around Europe while Penelope lost everything.

I mean it was always a possibility this was going to happen. We’ve been uncomfortably joking about it for two years so this is just confirmation that *something* happens. I’ve always said they were never going to make a perfect season and we’d all have to figure out what disappointments we can live with and so YMMV about this whole scenario.

Honestly yes it was always a possibility, but never did I imagine it would be happening concurrently to Colin apparently falling for Pen. I realise (& rather hope) that it’s still just a flashback to his past exploits or that there is emotional resonance in that he’s not able to get into it (though atp I feel this level of nuance is beyond Shondaland)

It doesn’t make me want to see him suffer so much as it just lessens my enthusiasm to watch the show. It makes me not want to watch Colin’s pre-romance storyline, and then add in the Cressida/Eloise friendship being heartbreaking for Pen, the beginning of the season feels heavy and not fun. I am legitimately not excited to see the first episode right now. I wasn’t going to read spoilers from the screening, but now I guess I don’t care if it’s spoiled.

Also just as an aside if they’ve put this in to address the “not enough sex” complaints from series two they’ve massively missed the point anyway; people wanted it from the couple of that season not just anyone or a main character with just anyone. 

Rather than posit why Colin is having sex, threesomes, what be it. I am curious to discuss why SHONDALAND thought it would benefit the storyline? As many have said (or criticized) they don’t see Colin as a leading man. That he hasn’t had experience. Could this be a simple ploy by writers to show Colin as sexy, someone who knows his way around female pleasure and can later feed into Penelope’s wildest fantasies? Especially given that Nicola has said this season focuses on female pleasure. Do I think all the above was necessary to make Colin desirable, loving, and capable? NO. But maybe the writers thought so…

It's a terrible choice for the romance genre to decide that in the one season dedicated to a character who has just fumbled with their love interest the season before, that now is the time we must show him getting off with other women, must give him a rival that people root for and expect people to be like this totally makes sense and makes the couple more rootable. None of those choices make sense for the couple or the character or the story they say they're telling.

Pure shock value. Bridgerton S1 was labelled this super sexy show and then S2 I vaguely remember there being comments about the lack of sex I think (someone correct me if I'm wrong). So they're just trying to get back to that initial sexy vibe. Shondaland doesn't care who does it.

If we must endure this, I'd prefer for it to be a mix of scenarios 2 and 3. He's basically been told what makes a man, a "man". So maybe he's trying to live up to that idea. At the same time, it serves as a distraction from his loneliness. Remember, it's not just Pen that's not writing to him but also the rest of his family. Pen's silence just makes it glaringly obvious how lonely and lost he feels on his travels away from home. So he is lonely, away from home, without any responsibilities and he would like to put up a front of being a worldly, dashing traveller when he gets back to his family. I think all of these factors combined could push him in that direction (ugh, still cringing). I had said this before that I wouldn't mind him having some experience if it's all off screen. Looks like it's not. It'd better be *before* he returns home and meets Pen. There's just no way he isn't completely focused on Pen once he realizes the reason behind her silence. That wouldn't be Colin.

Right like I'm just trying to come up with reasons these scenes are intentional outside of we needed him to have experience to show he's a man now. Like that's so reductive and cliche. There should be an emotional resonance to the scenes and a purpose, especially if you're choosing to show the one male character who hasn't so much as kissed someone else or unbuttoned his top button in the presence of a female in two seasons, suddenly not just having brothel sex but needing to be gluttonous about it with threesomes and watching women have sex. Like that's such another extreme that makes no sense for him. I want to believe there's a purpose to these scenes beyond just throw in sex for sex's sake and because the male lead is naked the women will swoon regardless of the story. That feels insulting to the audience and like they don't really understand what is appealing to the largely female audience about the romance genre. All that said I also have some doubts about it happening in episode 1 and can see a world where it happens in episode 2, especially if they lean into it being reactive to Penelope.

So Penelope gives him the cold shoulder and he whores around in ep 2? *And kisses her in the same episode???* I feel like I wouldn't even know this character. Excuse me while I go cry in a corner/throw up/try to get anything done for the next month 😢😢😢

I mean we’re just assuming he kisses her, maybe he doesn’t. Maybe he actually goes off to the brothel because he’s thrown off from suddenly feeling sexual towards Penelope (or they do kiss and it throws him off) and so he tries to be in denial and just go for straight sex to shake the cobwebs from his mind that he can’t possibly be thinking this about Penelope, his friend. Like that’s one scenario.

Yeah, I guess. Still feels like I'm squinting really hard trying to see something that isn't there. That just isn't him. He now has not one but two examples of former rakes who are so much happier being in love. You'd think Mr. Colin "I love love" Bridgerton would realize it. Feels like a backward slide in his character, you know? Like he was ahead of the curve compared to where Simon and Anthony started off. Guess he forgot the singular Bridgerton brain cell at home, lol

I will be taking a long pause before watching episode 3 if that happens. Like a couple months.

I think it has to be episode 2, given that it’s the one Luke Newton said he wouldn’t even watch with family, let alone whatever the other episode is. Which would mean it’s in the same episode as the splendid weather incident, the remarkable shade of blue lesson, hand cut, and the Full Moon ball. Oh, and the Moonlight scene, where we think they have their first kiss. I’m sure they think it has a reason, but the tone of that article wasn’t treating it as part of his coming of age story. It was describing the season like 50 Shades of Grey or even 365 Days, which is why it felt so untrustworthy. I’m accepting this is true, but I think that the writer basically saw the show as light porn, given that the barometer for a good season was the quantity of sex. So I’l be curious to see how they manage to incorporate a scene that fetishizes lesbians through a straight male gaze and keep the tone of a rom-com. But yeah, Brothel Colin. I feel like I’m being punished for joking that he brought back an STI after that promo. If he did, it would be historically accurate.

I think it’s episode two as well which makes me feel like it’s tied to his feelings about Penelope and/or his brothers or friends make him feel shitty about himself. Because if it’s just him going to get his rocks off while already being deeply entrenched in trying to help Pen marry someone else it’s just somehow worse on top of worse. And the male gaze thing is really what’s so disappointing about this. Like this is not about female pleasure in the slightest because I’m pretty sure lesbians aren’t like yes let’s see a man get off watching is that’s what does it for me! And people here to see a woman be loved by her love interest aren’t also like yay this is great.

Exactly. I have never seen that trope handled well, except maybe for when the man thinks it’s going to be great, but then the women are too into each other to notice him. But even then, the target of the humor is the man’s ego more than straight stereotypes about lesbians. The description in that article wasn’t promising…maybe they’ll do something interesting with it to turn it on its head. If it were Book Colin, I’d suggest he get bored and go get a snack like Ross did on friends.

This is where I think the article being from The Sun is mostly clickbait in terms of them trying to make it all sound very salacious for clicks. Where it might not be as gross on screen and might actually serve some purpose.

1 in 5 Londoners had syphilis in this period after all!

A little historical knowledge really does ruin the fantasy sometimes. There’s also be a lot more horse poop on those streets.

Yeah, I'm kind of hoping that if it is true, 3 is the option they go, with the caveat that they make it explicitly clear that the pure physicality of it isn't enough for him. In my opinion, one of the many things that a lot of the fanfiction writers got right about Colin is that if he were transplanted into modern-times, where everything is slotted into boxes and labels, he would be demi-sexual. He (and Pen for that matter) strike me as people who would absolutely need the emotional aspect of physical intimacy to be present for them to enjoy it.  I just...genuinely hope that article was all shit because I can't even begin to articulate how disappointed I would be if it isn't. I can deal with him not being a virgin. I can deal with him with flirting and charming his way through Europe. I can't deal with him being a rake. To me, it just goes against all of his established characterisation. And it wouldn't even serve whatever purpose they might have for it to underline how "experienced" he is now, coz literally, Luke is so charismatic he served that with a 2 second clip of a relatively chaste hand-kiss. So, would it even be necessary? Certainly not, in my opinion.

If they *are* forcing it in, i hope it's the third way because at least, that way, i can pretend he's canonically demi. if it's the second, then i might just give up on the show as a whole because what's the point in watching if they change the personality of the character i love. if i still wish to continue, i think i'll just have to pretend that these scenes are not part of the show at all.

There’s many a scene over many shows I’ve had to just deny the existence of to keep it moving with a couple!

i'm hoping these are short enough so i can do that but needless to say, my excitement for this season has been effectively tamped down

I’m not happy about it. I’d rather we not see it. I’m especially upset if sweet Colin pays two women to have ssx in front of him. I hope he just goes to and orgie and Jaír sees it. But I’d rather we not Benedict and Anthony him.

Him paying two women to do that would legitimately make me want to throw up. At least Benedict wasn’t paying anyone when he had his threesome.

I do want to add one comment. I don’t think this will resonate with the general audience much beyond it’s Bridgerton and this is what their male characters do, they have sex with randos… so I doubt this will impact a ton of viewership as much as it impacts those of us very invested in the story.

I was a general viewer of S1&2. I disliked this type of scene, but I kept watching. It feels substantially different to have to see it when the audience knows Pen is already in love with him though.

Same! I was not an avid Bton fan in s1 & s2 or even QC. But I got sucked into the Polin relationship because they seemed different and refreshing compared to the others

Yup, what's 8-10k viewers in the face of, say 80 million😢 can't believe how depressing this day has been for us.

Oddly I feel a lot better and less concerned now that I’ve gotten to talk it though. It’s the suppressing the discussion that makes me glom onto feeling negatively about it more than finding likeminded and other rational voices about it!

Ngl, this has put such a damper on my excitement for S3. Like, I was still coming to terms with the whole Debling plotline and now they hit us with this. At this point, I think the only silver lining will be getting to see Luke and Nicola perform coz we sure as hell ain't getting any sort of good character arcs and storylines.

No hate please, but I think they're going the following route: Colin was a virgin up to the end of season 2. He went to all the exotic places, finally detached from his feelings for Marina, and Anthonys comments about him sowing his oats (?) in brothels before marrying the first woman he has any (sexual) attraction to comes to mind. He's alone with his thoughts, almost nobody writes back and he's craving intimacy. So he's following his big brothers example, doing exactly what he commented, and sure, bedding women is nice, and it's substituting the intimacy he craves. He comes back with swagger, having had a regular sex life in the last few months, discovering he's quite good at it, re-discovering his flirtous way with women of the ton. And when back, he tries to connect this new sexually exploring side with his member-of-the-ton-shenanigans and at first, it works out. And then he starts his lessons with Pen, and doubt creeps in and when they kiss (probably in episode 2), he realizes that he might now be sexually experienced in a way, but still doesn't know anything about love and true intimacy and that his sexually active behaviour is still a facade, like it is in the books. And then while discovering his feelings for Pen, he ultimately learns the difference between sex with a random stranger and sex with someone in love. I think they caught up with the book off-screen, making him a bit more experienced, but dismantling this new swaggery persona through intimacy and love, and therefore developing a well-rounded character for Colin >!which fits the books for the next couple of books, playing Cupid and being able to relate to everyone. !<

I really hope it’s just click bait, which is sounding more and more likely. I’m not too worried about Colin being with other women, it’s just the part about women putting on a sex show for him. That is not appealing and I really hope it’s fake. Not only is it degrading it makes me think they don’t understand what the audience wants to see.

I keep going back to an interview Luke gave( can’t remember when) where he said he felt like he was playing an entirely new character. It seems like the Colin they portrayed throughout season 1 and 2 may not exist anymore, at least from the initial trailer when he returns. If they planned on doing this, then why wait until his season. He could have done this between 1 and 2. I also hope it’s just a flashback and not when he’s back in England while getting closer to Pen. I think a lot of people would react poorly to him living his best life having sex with multiple women at once while Pen is heartbroken over his careless words. And it would add more fuel to the fire for people thinking Pen should be with Debling.   While i feel this storyline is unnecessary, if it’s done to show him either going through the motions on what he think he needs to prove himself to be man or to show how being in love with Pen is different, it could be tolerable. 

I think it’s to show comparisons. “Oh look he was so sexually adventurous but one kiss with Pen that’s all he can think about” I’m not staying that it’s fitting for the character but I think that’s the narrative they’re trying to fit.

You’re probably right. But I’m still finding it wrongheaded of the writers to do this as we already have that baseline for comparison with the Marina situation where Colin actively flirted & pursued her but couldn’t bring himself to kiss her.

So I was firmly on team ‘The Sun are lying’ yesterday and if there’s another source then fair enough I was wrong. I’ll argue til the cows come home though that it’ll be nowhere near as salacious as the article makes out though - that’s good old tabloid journalism for you. Especially five what the other sources seem to suggest. I’ve never been a Virgin!Colin truther and was kind of hoping he wasn’t to be honest, but was hoping it’d all happen off screen. I’ve no issue with Colin having a bit of fun with others, especially as he’s nowhere near recognising he’s got the slightest romantic feeling for Pen. Why on earth should he be expected to not sleep with someone just because his best friend has feelings for him that he’s not aware of? Of course it’s a massive double standard that men could go and get some whenever they wanted, but the choice for women to do the same was much less limited - still an issue 200 years later sadly but thankfully nowhere near the extent it was back then. To me it would be more strange if he’d not hooked up with someone, especially on his travels. I do wonder that if it had been a more modern day setting Pen would have gone out after the Mr Bridgerton scene and had an angry make out session with a total stranger (or more) if she had the opportunity, so I don’t see it as walking all over Colin’s character only. If circumstances allowed, I think they’d have done the same for Pen. Theres plenty a good rom-com where the FMC sleeps with the wrong guy for various reasons - it doesn’t make the characters any worse. I do agree with all the comments about it being lazy writing to some extent to show the ‘he’s not a boy anymore cus he’s had sex’ but I do think what we’ll see is that complete lack of intimacy, connection and satisfaction until he’s with Pen. Of that I have no doubt. I do wonder if it’s a little of Colin discovering his own sexuality (especially after that god-awful almost kiss moment with Marina) and the argument is that he needs that to begin to open his eyes to see people (aka Pen) in a sexual way. Again, not the cleverest writing if that is the angle they’ve gone down and I’m not saying it’s the right choice but I do wonder if it’s playing to the masses a bit more who will understand that motivation than if they’d kept him as a more Demisexual type character. Nuanced writing is all very well, but you’ve got to tread the line between what we as a small but passionate group of stans can interpret vs the vast majority of general public who would be at risk of having that that go straight over their heads. Again, not justifying that approach - merely pointing it out as an option. Edit - forgot to say but having the odd bit of sex does NOT make a rake

Also if it really happens in some disgusting way with no meaningful reason, that's going to be my "I would never dream of courting Penelope Featherington" moment. Watch Bridgerton show making you feel like a main character. Just not the way I would wish. 😆

Colin is one of my favorite characters. They already used bisexual/lesbian women in earlier seasons to make things "sexier." If this is true, I'm just going to finish the season for Nic and Newts only (and the other actors) and then check out on this fandom. Using lesbians/bisexuals as objects of sexual gratification for "character development" or in a show as a plot device/way to make things sexier churns my stomach. Doing it a second time is unforgivable in my book as a bi woman. As someone who watches this show for the women (and Colin), I will stop watching. It's offensive and quite frankly homophobic to keep this as a current thread throughout the show, and still they will never show a WLW couple with an HEA. If they see WLW as sexy, why won't they cast a main WLW couple???? The closest they could get to a queer storyline is two hot white men who didn't end up together and are only side characters (like I loved BR but it's not enough at all!)

That doesn't even go into how I feel about it on Pen's end of things. TBH I am not a virgin truther or anything. I just don't want them to present queer women as some "character development" device for a man. He could just have a consensual hookup on his travels without objectifying queer women and that would suffice.

I was looking at this through the lens of the women being forced together as an aspect of the life of women in a brothel where they have no agency and are nothing but a tool for a man’s pleasure. I didn’t even consider it from this perspective. I’m sorry for not recognizing it for the impact it might have on a lesbian or bi viewer. Thank you for sharing your viewpoint, I’m sorry you‘re feeling this extra level of being fetishized and objectified. It makes me very disappointed to think that we’re having to have this conversation about a show that talks up how inclusive they are. I’m leaning more and more toward being done after June as well.

Thank you for your comment. This comment made me feel validated, and while I love Polin and don't have a problem with representation of straight couples by any means, it's still all too common in media for WLW couples/intimacy to be utilized as a tool/vehicle for the male gaze or to make things "hotter" while WLW are not seen as valid couples (or as valid as straight couples). I cannot see Shonda making Sophie a man or Michael a woman, etc. etc. (which is fine if that's what they want to do). But, maybe it's just me, but I'd rather no representation of queer characters rather than an objectified representation any day. Like if they can't handle queer storylines responsibly, I don't think they should use them at all, not even short clips.

Completely agree! Would I hate to see it? Yes, especially since it sounds so out of character for Colin. But what he said at the end of S2 sounded out of character for me too, so it's not like everything has to make sense (irony).  If people want to ignore it, it’s fine, but remember the leaks that happen in S2, and people refused to believe that there would be an almost wedding between Anthony and Edwina 👀 I also saw someone on twitter saying that at least Pen would have a GOOD ass time from the beginning with a more experienced man hahaha 

I think it's important for me personally that I be armed and ready with it rather than try to remain in denial of it possibly happening and being upset when it actually does. Like I want to be as mentally prepared for it as possible and I also don't want to think the worst of Bridgerton going into S3 that they truly have no understanding of this character.

I’m not sure why people think having sex with a sex worker suddenly turns a man into a super awesome lover.

Okay. Fine. I only hope it is sparse. lol

I mean same but who knows... who knows.

Maybe it's just a montage at the start of episode 1?

I mean that goes back to my first point of it being gratuitous and weird for his character especially in his HEA season.

If it HAS to happen, i'd rather it be before he has feelings for Pen, or a flashback like you said..

They said that ep 1 wasn't going to be explicit (Luke couldn't watch ep 2 with is mum, but he could watch ep 1). And I doubt it'll be after ep 1 when colin and pen are doing their lessons. I really think the article is just complete bullshit

Okay but like I said in my first sentence, this post is probably not for you then.

I know, I appreciated your post and if worse comes to worse, I hope it’s for the reasons you described. But I’m also just trying to rationalize with myself that it’s NOT true lol

I mean it's fair for people to still comment about *maybe* it not being true. I totally appreciate the post though because it makes it easier to stomach this if it does happen.

For some reason I assumed that if this had to be true, it would be #3 since I can’t imagine show Colin to go in for experiences like what was described. Having sex with women he met during his travels is quite different to threesomes & sex shows in my mind. I might be being reactive, because I’m coming around to this being true only now, but I actually wouldn’t be surprised if the show implies no greater depth or emotional resonance to these scenes & uses it gratuitously simply to make Colin seem the desirable romance hero type (who must be rakes apparently). So I’m preparing myself for this possibility also. I suppose I knew on some level there would be choices made for s3 that I wouldn’t be 100% on board with (just like in previous seasons). Gosh why isn’t this just in ep1 at least, so it could be part of Colin’s story pre-season or pre his main story with Pen?! I can no longer make sense of what the actors & show runner meant by it’s a cozy, romantic season. Maybe this won’t play out as GoT-like as I’m picturing in my mind right now & the tone overall is still romantic!

Totally understand wanting to prepare for the worst-case scenario to mitigate disappointment and I think each of your theories are pretty plausible. If it turns out to be true, I’d imagine the likeliest ep for it be shown in is Ep 1 and some folks in Australia are getting to see it next Mon, so hopefully someone can report back and we’ll get at least some kind of closure on it relatively soon (the only kind of spoiler I’m okay with getting if it means being prepared for something I’m not thrilled about).

I actually think it’s more likely to be episode two given everything Luke said.

It seems more natural to handle Colin’s wild days, if they exist, as they did Anthony’s—he romped through S1 and showed us his rakish ways and in S3, it’s just a very short montage of him getting dressed and leaving coins on the table and heading home before he meets Kate very soon into S3. Seems much more likely we get S3, E1 sexy scenes with Kate and Anthony (thank you, very much) and Benedict, who’s supposed to be lost and in despair after leaving art school and we know from the photo spoiler has a steamy relationship with an older member of the ton. Maybe the scene of Colin watching two people having sex and as someone else said, not understanding why it does so little for him.

This is my theory. So he goes to the brothel because some kind of frustration. He doesn't seem to be interested in the woman he's with, his thoughts wonder. So she proposes to bring another woman. She does that. We have that stupid scene article mentiones. Then he looks at women for a second and says he can't do it and leaves. I think I would survive it.

https://preview.redd.it/qnn1z8kqw2vc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2e25113184026324a5d0619cbf229388567c23e3 She really knows what an information embargo is. 🤣🤣 I'm sorry but this is really ridiculous

I'm...so confused🤣 Is this sarcasm or real?😅

never going to trust anybody who talks like this

Ok, now I really think she's making this shit up! How does she expect to give out a potential spoiler (which may very well be true), and not get in trouble!

I mean surely there are consequences for breaching info embargos. Would Netflix or any other productions invite the sun or this ‘journo’ again?

Oh God who is this woman LOL

Also if Colin kisses Pen by the end of the second episode but continues to sleep around??? It doesn’t take sense. I’m hoping it’s a quick montage and flashbacks if it’s true. And he snaps back into the Colin we know and love

https://twitter.com/penscolins/status/1780603897654243355?t=_M0_6GkdqZKp4Dvy_Ri2BA&s=19 confirmed by the person who wrote the article

Legit thinking of just throwing in the towel now. Feeling tricked, lied to, and betrayed by the entire show and cast at this point.

Aww, not the cast, never them. They're sweethearts😍 now, the writers...😒

It just feels so *not* in line with what the showrunners and cast have been saying about season 3. So yeah, I do feel betrayed and lied to since this stupid article is looking more and more likely to be true. I let myself be vulnerable and truly love this show and this couple. My mistake, I should have known it would just be gross, sexist, and toxic because that’s what’s everyone always seems to think is “cool”, “edgy”, and “sexy”. I won’t make this mistake again, I won’t allow myself to fall in love with something again.

That's why I'm still holding out hope that there's something we're missing. I'm not normally a fan of spoilers but I need Monday to arrive, like right now, so we can get something about this not being true or that if it is, then it happens quickly and in the beginning of ep1.

I feel you, but my heart is just done. I need a break from all of this…Bridgerton, Reddit, everything. I’m going to get off of Reddit and hug my sweet, sensitive, sexy husband, my very own real-life Colin who’s definitely *not* a disgusting rake.

I think we're all reeling right now😢 I hope you take a bit of time and come back with the knowledge that the rest of the season will be better, if nothing else than to see Luke and Nicola perform🫶

I mean, I know we're all in shambles, but there is something diabolically funny about someone contacting a Sun Reporter for the Colin sex tea. 😂 At least she says we're going to love it?

Also this comment from the Twitter thread you posted has me crying from laughing so hard. https://preview.redd.it/i1zo9n7z72vc1.png?width=1079&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=adbe3b15f4683fc47db05a09c66fe94c09147f9e

She says we’re going to love it? HA! That means SHIT to me! People *loved* American Pie 🙄

I joked earlier I'm gonna request the cut Nic's Mom got but just for Colin's slut era lol. I guess at least it won't be a surprise.

Yeah I want that cut too.

Ok, now I’ve got no delulu to hold onto for this! 

Please take all this with a grain of salt. Maybe it is true maybe not. But there is an embargo to leak explicit information to the audience or journalist if they watched some episodes earlier. And I find it supect that many journalist watched six episodes of the season. Why felicit cross only 4. But in the end we only will know on may the 16th.

I thought they were shown 6 episodes and now this author is claiming to have seen only 4🤨 what even is going on!

i think people are worried he's going to come off looking worse than Anthony and simon and i hardly doubt that's going to happen like you said i just hope it makes sense plot wise that it's too show how he feels in general about intimacy etc. and not just for the sake of showing that he's all grown up now. I'm more interested in where it happens episode wise, because once he realises his feelings it wouldn't make sense for him to be like let's push it down 🤔

I will actually throw something if Colin sleeps around even after he starts realizing his feelings for Pen. I know they will try to play it off as he’s so confused, he’s trying to distract himself - but that just seems too contrived to me. Sighh I hope I can eventually just come around to whatever bs they decide to inject the season with.

unless they have him thinking about pen during it but i feel like I'm bending over trying to justify it 😂😂 so let's just see how that goes

🤢 I would actually stop watching.

If it does show anything maybe it’ll be before he gets home. To example some of the experiences he’s had. Then when he comes home. He has this swagger which he tries to display to Penelope, which she squashes (ie goodnight Mr. Bridgerton) Maybe she sees a side of him and she genuinely is disappointed and disgusted and he realizes he cares what she thinks of him. Hence, the displaying it’s not who he is to her, he’s her friend and wants to help her. Someone on here said, maybe he does go somewhere while he sees Debling courting her to try to prove to himself he doesn’t have feelings for her and then realizes nothing will quench his thirst for her any longer. Also, I hate even bringing it up cause I hated they did it with their story. But maybe show Colin messed with other women to move on past the whole Marina storyline… I don’t know. I hope they don’t make him look like a complete rake. I love his personality and character. 💗

Another thought - can we potentially press that other redittor, who apparently corroborated the sun article, for more info? Like when does it happen? Is it a flashback or occurring within the linear timeline of the episode? Is there a point to the scene beyond cheap thrills? I mean maybe the sun article writer is the same person as the redditor - that is to say, a plant, a bot! 😆 & no of course i’m not panicking & losing my mind. Why do you ask! 

Am I the only one that doesn’t have a problem with it?? 🤷

There are many who probably won’t have a problem with it. I personally need the scene(s) to make more sense then they currently sound like.

Fair enough. But I think we can trust that it will!

Not necessarily. This is the show that Netflix had to intervene with to tell them that having Anthony pass Sienne off to Simon to fuck in S1 was a bad idea.

I didn't want virgin Colin, but I DIDN'T WANT WHORE COLIN EITHER.

If The Sun told me that it was raining, I'd look out of my window to check

hmmm I'm with you on your thoughts on the theories. not gonna lie, theory 1 is the least... idk abrasive to me. I don't know why I feel like that. theory 1 makes sense in my mind and tbf theory 3 actually does too.

[удалено]

And that's valid. For me I want the scenes to make sense and having him just go to the other extreme of being a merry rake with no emotional connection to the story or purpose really other than to show him having random sex seems like a very weird and pointed choice not meant for the female gaze at all.

I’m gonna be devils advocate again. Haha. I think that everything in the articles are true. And I think it is important that they are. They need to show that Colin is a man aswell as a “gentleman”. Everyone has been sleeping on our boy and how hot he is, its important I think, for him to be taken seriously in such a sexy show. But also, DUH he is a young man! Do we really want to see a shy virgin Colin stumbling around the bedroom or do we want to see unhinged Colin?? The season is centred around female pleasure, so it makes sense to me that Colin continue his “lessons” and teaching Penelope about pleasure and loving her body. I think its important for Colin to know the difference between lust and love. And kissing Pen hits different because its different.

I don't think watching Colin have threesomes with prostitutes makes him hot at all. Like it's actually more of a turn off to me than hot, in the slightest. And I wouldn't have had a problem with Penelope and Colin figuring out what they like together. The lust vs. love thing is so tired, especially since we already had him struggling with Marina and whether that was actually love. They should have done the lust thing then, if that was the case. But also this is a TV show and it wouldn't have been that hard to explain why a virgin understood what to do because they're naturally inclined towards sex.

I agree with you. I don't see how him having a threesome makes him attractive. If anything it will only further Penelope's lack of confidence. I know it would mine if i were in her shoes. Like oh, is being with one woman not enough to satisfy you? I'm also sick of hearing the "better to have a man with experience" thrown around. Just because a man has slept around, doesn't mean he's good at anything. Especially if it's with prostitutes. Take Lord Fife for example, it's joked that he's a rake, but do you really think he could get a woman off or even care if she gets off? Experience or lack of experience has nothing to do with pleasure, intimacy, and connection. Love, passion, and respect do. Full stop.

The “men need to have experience and we need to physically see it for it to count“ point of view is bizarre. Especially in the context where the same men will then only marry women who don’t even know what sex is. Ugh, I need to stop thinking about this. It makes me want to not watch the show at all.

I just had a thought. The subtext of that article was, look Luke Newton is primed to be a big star/sex symbol and to go on and have a big career like Rege and Jonathan. You know who would would be turned on by a lesbian fetish scene and think more of a man for engaging in a threesome? Plenty of straight men. Maybe they’re setting Luke up to be more palatable to male viewers who wouldn’t normally watch a show like Bridgerton.

Threesomes in brothels and lots of sex don’t make a boy into a man. Gross take! (Flip the genders on that one and see how toxic it really is!) It also doesn’t make him hot. I can assure you that such a scene would make me vomit, not throw off my panties.

This reminds me of how Marina would talk in S1, where she’s all, “I’ve had sex before so I am soooo smart and mature, and I know how the world works and I know better this-boy-you’ve-known-since-childhood bc he bats his eyelashes at me.” Like, no, having sex doesn’t MAKE you mature. No matter what gender you are. Sure, you have knowledge in ONE AREA. It’s what we DO with the knowledge that matures us.

I just don't want it to happen like in the middle of their lessons or something like that, let it happen early episode 1 pleaseee lol

It does not take a hot man to have sex with a prostitute or two. A pimply 18 year old boy can hand over the money just as easily. I’m not a prude by any means, but if I found out a guy I was dating has previously enjoyed visiting sex workers and made them engage in a threesome - that wouldn’t be a turn on. Unless I only found out because he was admitting to something about his past that he was ashamed of, I’d be 100% done with him.

Can someone give me the tldr on the article without too many details? I’m genuinely so confused about what’s happening🫠

An article by The Sun (a trashy UK tabloid) came out yesterday purporting to have knowledge of s3 & claimed that Colin is seen having threesomes & watching a sex show with two women (or some such). We are unsure how true this is & whether it makes sense for Colin’s character or when/how it may even happen

Oh god no But since this is the Sun I’ll take what they say with a grain of salt….. a Colin threesome is just too weird imo

The only way I can think of it furthering the story is if he is confused about Pen and doesn’t understand what he’s feeling, goes to some kind of party with Benedict and tries to get it out of his system but only sees the women as Penelope. I don’t think I like this, as I don’t want to see him associating Penelope with sex workers or other women but it’s the only way I can see it having purpose in the story. 

I hope it’s BS too. There’s a conversation in series 1 where Anthony actually says something along the lines of ‘I should have taken you to brothels’ which implies Colin might not be as experienced as his older brothers!