Nicola Coughlan admits being ‘nervous’ while pranking Luke Newton

Nicola Coughlan is talking about her “nervousness” while picking up a joke on her Bridgerton co-star Luke Newton after finding out he had formerly been in a boy band.

When asked about her favourite behind-the-scenes filming moments in a recent interview with People magazine, the actress—who plays Penelope Featherington—responded, “We had a fun one in one of the balls where Luke is meant to come in and interrupt a dance.”

She continued, “I had found out a few years previous that Luke used to be in a boy band, and I just thought it was the best thing ever. I had for years wanted to do this prank on him where he comes in to do a dance and instead of the music for the show playing, it would be his song from his boy band, but it took so much planning, it was insane.”

Newton, who plays Colin Bridgerton, engaged in the joint interview, calling the occasion “amazing,” while Coughlan remembered feeling “really nervous” as the prank started.

“I remember we knew what take it was going to happen on, the cameras were set up to turn to be on him, but it was so cute because you come up onto the dance floor and you interrupt this dance, and then we stand together to start dancing, and then your little face you went,” she explained to Newton while displaying a confused look.

“Yeah, that’s all been filmed, so I’ve not seen it full. I’ve only seen a little bit back, but I’m really excited to watch.”

Just before the prank took place, Newton said he sensed a change in energy in the room, which led him to believe that something unusual was happening.

“It was so strange because I could feel it like a weird energy,” he said. “I could feel that there was like, people were looking at me over their shoulder and I was like, are people nervous about me doing this dance? Because I’m absolutely fine, we’ll get through it.”

The actor continued, “And then all of a sudden I hear it because I had a piece in my ear first, I just had the tick, tick, tick, and I was like, it really sounds like… And then it was blasting on the speakers and all the dancers…” Coughlan added, “All the dancers started going, everyone’s there cheering.”

While the prank went as Coughlan hoped, she admitted to being more nervous on set than even for a sex scene. She said, “I was like, if this goes wrong…”

However, the pair concurs that a specific dance sequence in the popular Netflix series “will always remind” them of that joke.

Bridgerton’s first part of third season is streaming now on Netflix.