The actor plays Penelope’s love interest Lord Debling in season 3

Sam Phillips’ character Lord Debling was a strong contender for the heart of leading lady Penelope Featherington, played by Nicola Coughlan, but Sam has recently revealed that their on-screen romance was not as smooth as it may have seemed.

Fans will remember the dramatic moment when Lord Debling saves Nicola’s character from a runaway hot air balloon, throwing himself in harm’s way to protect her while Colin Bridgerton wrestles with the ropes to keep the balloon from hitting her.

Speaking on the Australian TV show The Project alongside co-star Jessie Madsen, who plays Cressida Cowper, Sam said: “I had to do a scene where I had to dive in for the hot air balloon scene. I had to do this very heroic swoop in to save Nicola’s character, Penelope.

 “Most of the time I looked like I was getting her in a wrestling headlock,” he explained.

The actor added that this was not the desired effect: “We had to do it about six or seven times, maybe more. I was just surprised at how unsmooth I looked, basically.”

It seems that Sam wasn’t the only one to struggle, as Nicola also told Teen Vogue that the hot air balloon scene was “wild”.

Lots of fans thought Nicola and Sam had great chemistry

“Initially it was scripted not as intensely as it was,” the actress revelaed. “It came in Penelope’s direction, and Lord Debling was going to whisk her away. But then they were like: ‘No, we’re going to make this a full stunt’.”

She continued: “I was like: ‘You are kidding me!’ And we had to head off and do full stunt rehearsals for it. I had to throw myself onto a crash mat.

 “Sam Phillips fully rugby tackled me, at one point, he went in so hardcore that his coat stuck to my wig and we were attached to one another.”

The show does accurately represent reality, as there was a big craze for ballooning in England and France in the 18th century. According to the National Air and Space Museum: “When two aeronauts piloted the first free flight aboard a hydrogen balloon in Paris on 1 December 1783, an estimated 400,000 people – about half the population of Paris – gathered to watch history be made.”