The showrunner of Bridgerton has weighed in on the future of season 3’s leading lady. The Netflix Regency-era romance show, which is based on the series of romance novels by Julia Quinn, follows a different member of the Bridgerton family every season. While season 1 centered Daphne (Phoebe Dynevor) and season 2 followed Anthony (Jonathan Bailey), season 3 focused on Colin’s (Luke Newton) romance with longtime family friend Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan). However, the public revelation that Penelope was secretly operating as vicious gossip columnist (and narrator) Lady Whistledown could have major implications for the upcoming Bridgerton season 4.

Bridgerton showrunner Jess Brownell spoke to both TheWrap and Variety about Penelope’s season 4 future in the wake of the season 3 finale. To the former, she said that she thinks there is a future for Lady Whistledown (the pseudonymous author who was voiced by Julie Andrews) but “now Pen will have to navigate what it’s like to be a public gossip columnist.” To the latter, she said, “I think there is more story to tell there.” Read her full quotes from both interviews below:

(to TheWrap) As we talked about where we wanted to end Penelope in the writers’ room, it felt like, in a season where she’s discovering the importance of her power, for her to then give up the column felt like it might be a down note. I think there’s more to come with Lady Whistledown — I think now Pen will have to navigate what it’s like to be a public gossip columnist, not only dealing with the people she writes about, but also taking steps to be more accountable in what she writes. Accountability and authenticity are two things that she’s had to really face this season, and we’re gonna continue that thread going into Season 4. (to Variety) I don’t think we’re done with Lady Whistledown. I think there is more story to tell there, because now Penelope is a public gossip columnist who people are going to know is the writer when she writes about them. And certainly, as you referenced, she will have to contend with the Queen and the Queen’s demands, the Queen’s desires, the Queen’s scrutiny. So how Penelope balances that is fodder for Season 4.

Lady Whistledown’s Bridgerton Future Is Tied To Penelope Featherington’s

Bridgerton Season 4 Will Set A Roadmap For Coming Seasons

While it remains to be seen how the public outing of Bridgerton‘s Lady Whistledown is handled in season 4, it seems that the show will diverge from the original books significantly. On the page, Lady Whistledown was used in a similar narrator capacity in the first three books, but once her identity was revealed, Penelope transferred to writing fiction and retired her gossip column for good. However, she was not a major character in the remaining novels in the way that she likely will be on the show as long as Coughlan remains being part of it.

As Brownell says, keeping Lady Whistledown a part of Penelope’s life could serve a major purpose for the show. Exploring the fallout of her revelation will give the character a meatier arc in future seasons than she has on the page. However, keeping her gossip column running could also allow the show’s signature narration to continue unabated. While Whistledown’s identity was a key plot point, giving up on the Julie Andrews narration would rob the show of one of its iconic elements.

There could potentially be an issue if Coughlan leaves the Bridgerton cast before the end of the show. However, the franchise has already set a precedent for bringing in Andrews as much as possible. She also provided narration for the spinoff prequel Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, which largely took place during a time period considerably before the birth of Penelope. Thus, even if Coughlan departs, there could be an in-universe avenue for the narration to continue.