Last weekend, the Bridgerton star, 37, was photographed getting cosy with 24-year-old actor Jake Dunn as they made their way to the All Points East festival at Victoria Park in London, per British media.

Jake Dunn only graduated from drama school in 2022. Photo: @jakeldunn/Instagram

She even seemed to channel her inner Penelope Featherington because she wore a Bengaline puff-sleeve skater dress to the event. Her rumoured beau – who had his arm wrapped around her in the pics – kept it simple with a white button-down top and black trousers.

Jake Dunn’s first professional role on stage was as Billy Casper in a theatrical adaptation of the 1969 Ken Loach film Kes. Photo: @jakeldunn/Instagram

Like Coughlan, Dunn is also an actor. Here’s what we know about him:

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Jake Dunn is from the UK

Jake Dunn played Cassius in Julius Caesar at stage school. Photo: @jakeldunn/Instagram

Though not much is known about Dunn’s background, we know that he is British and from Nottingham, per his profile on the Guildhall School of Music and Drama website indicating that his natural accent is “London/Nottingham” along with several voice reels.

In a 2022 interview with the Lancashire Telegraph in which he discussed playing Billy Casper in a new version of Kes at Bolton’s Octagon Theatre, he also talked about how he nevertheless had to train to put on a Yorkshire accent. “We have had a great dialect coach and every day I have repeatedly been saying the months of the year in a Yorkshire accent which has been my way into it,” he told the publication. “Being from Nottingham I do say ‘bath’ not ‘barth’ anyway so that’s halfway there!”

He’s a recent graduate

A younger Jake Dunn models for a photo shoot in Purple Fashion Magazine. Photo: @jakeldunn/Instagram

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Per his profile on the institution’s website, Dunn was part of Guildhall School’s drama department and graduated in 2021/2022. He took part in various projects while he was studying at the London-based music and drama school including Betsy’s husband in Anna Karenina and Cassius in Julius Caesar.

He’s been in Netflix shows too

Jake Dunn prepares for his role as Thomas Blancheford in Renegade Nell. Photo: @jakeldunn/Instagram

Dunn is quickly making a name for himself as an actor. He joined the cast of The Internet Explorers TV show in 2017 for three episodes, then went on to nab roles on Netflix’s Get Even and The Bastard Son & the Devil Himself, according to IMDb, as well as BBC’s Rebel Cheer Squad: A Get Even Series, sitcom Big Boys and most recently, Renegade Nell. The latter production – which also stars Ted Lasso’s Nick Mohammed and Joely Richardson – is set in 18th-century England, not too long before Bridgerton’s Regency-inspired period drama.

He’s trained in stage combat

Jake Dunn shared snaps of himself hanging out with his friends in Rome last September. Photo: @jakeldunn/Instagram

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The 185cm tall Dunn has a number of additional talents too. As seen on his profile on the GSMD website, his skills include having a good ear for accents, show dancing and stage combat.

He’s not a fan of working with animals

Jake Dunn in Disney+’s Renegade Nell. Photo: @jakeldunn/Instagram

His first professional theatre role was the aforementioned Kes at the Bolton Octagon, which follows the story of a young working class boy and his pet kestrel. Dunn revealed to the Lancashire Telegraph that he wasn’t a huge fan of working with animals. “I did a play with a dog in it and that was stressful enough. The thing is whenever you get an animal on stage, the audience doesn’t care what the actors are doing and you suspect that everyone is waiting for that animal to misbehave. So I hope it won’t put anyone off from buying a ticket, but there isn’t a real life kestrel in this version of Kes,” he joked.

Preparing for the role did turn him into a bird lover though: “I didn’t know anything about birds; I wasn’t interested in them,” he said in the same interview. “Then before rehearsals started I spent an afternoon with a falconer and I’ve become obsessed with birds – I think they are incredible creatures.”

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Who else has Nicola Coughlan dated?

Luke Newton and Nicola Coughlan’s characters finally get together in season 3 of the hit Netflix series Bridgerton – but the two are just friends IRL. Photo: Netflix

While many Bridgerton fans were hoping that the show’s leads, Colin and Penelope, played by Luke Newton and Nicola Coughlan, would be romantically linked in real life, a source shut down those rumours back in May, telling People that they are definitely “not dating” and are “just friends”.

So who has Coughlan dated IRL? According to Elle, she is believed to have previously dated Derry Girls’ Laurie Kynaston.

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There were also rumours flying around about a potential fling with Taylor Swift’s ultra-private ex, Joe Alwyn, after they were spotted together on multiple occasions – but it’s likely that they are just friends.