Bridgerton made its comeback to Netflix for its fourth season last month. The plot draws from Julia Quinn's third Bridgerton novel, An Offer From a Gentleman - which chronicles Benedict Bridgerton's (Luke Thompson) love story. The synopsis reads: "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."

The opening episode of the Cinderella-themed season witnessed Sophie Baek (portrayed by Yerin Ha) covertly attending Lady Violet Bridgerton's (Ruth Gemmell) ball, where she connected with Benedict over her lack of dancing abilities. Benedict promptly embarked on an exhaustive quest to locate the enigmatic woman, before it emerged that Sophie was, in fact, a servant for her insufferable stepmother Lady Araminta Penwood (Katie Leung), reports the Mirror.

The new romantic lead, who is the illegitimate child of an earl and one of his servants, was subsequently ousted by her stepmother and forced to seek employment in the countryside, where she encountered Benedict again - though sadly, he failed to recognise her.

Despite remaining unaware of her real identity, Benedict quickly fell head over heels for Sophie, with the initial batch of episodes concluding on a passionate cliffhanger featuring the duo. With the female protagonist being a servant, viewers have been granted greater insight into the Regency household staff in series four, particularly those employed at Bridgerton House. These include footman John, portrayed by Oli Higginson.

John has featured in all four seasons of Bridgerton, portraying a reliable member of the Bridgerton household staff. He memorably assisted Eloise (Claudia Jessie) in discovering more about Lady Whistledown during the first series, and helped coordinate Lady Bridgerton's masquerade ball at the beginning of the latest series.

Some Bridgerton fans might be astonished to discover that John actor Oli is married to a highly celebrated US actress in real life. The performer has been married to Disney star Meaghan Martin since 2016. Meaghan is most recognised for portraying Tess in Disney's Camp Rock film series, and also featured in ABC Family's 10 Things I Hate About You programme and Mean Girls 2 before moving to the UK.

The actress previously disclosed that she first met her long-term partner during a fortnight-long summer drama workshop, explaining: "The first class activity we did was hold eye contact with each other for five minutes straight!"

Bridgerton fans were left astounded upon discovering the link, with one individual posting on TikTok: "I literally just found out about this minutes ago and I was so shocked!" Another commented: "I just... truly my mind was blown when I found this out earlier! A pairing you truly couldn't see coming but I absolutely love it!" A third exclaimed: "SCREAMING WHAT," whilst another person likewise expressed: "Excuse me WHAT."

Bridgerton season 4, part 2 will land on Netflix on Thursday, February 26

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