‘Bridgerton’ Author Julia Quinn Explains Why Kate, Anthony Won’t Have Their Own Spinoff After Season 4 Absence (Exclusive)

Bridgerton‘s Kate and Anthony won’t be getting their own spinoff after being absent from the recent seasons of the hit Netflix series.

Author Julia Quinn exclusively told Us Weekly what viewers can expect after Kate (Simone Ashley) and Anthony (Jonathan Bailey) weren’t in the first half of season 4.

“They come back — they definitely come back. People have to remember that Jonathan Bailey is pretty busy and Simone Ashley has an incredible career,” Quinn explained about the fictional couple being off screen so far. “I’m just so grateful that the actors are making time to do this.”

Quinn assumed it would continue the longer Bridgerton aired on Netflix.

“With all the actors’ schedules, it’s just impossible to get them there for a complete season,” she teased. “The scenes that they are in are absolutely delightful so I’m thrilled. I think Kate and Anthony fans will be thrilled when they see them.”

Despite Kate and Anthony coming back to the show, there don’t appear to be plans for a spinoff, with Quinn telling Us, “I’m like, ‘Can we just spin off with them in India?’ Yeah, that’s not going to happen, I’m afraid. Not after we had Wicked and all this stuff. I think they’re not going to commit to a TV show.”

Anthony and Kate’s romance was the focus of 2022’s season 2. Since most of the season was focused on Anthony getting out of a courtship with her sister, Edwina (Charithra Chandran), before getting together with Kate, viewers were expecting the pair to play a large role in season 3.

Season 3, however, featured Anthony and Kate sharing only a handful of scenes before disappearing on a second honeymoon. They returned toward the end of the season to announce Kate’s pregnancy, which is when the pair decided to take a trip to India. Season 4, which premiered earlier this month, explained Anthony and Kate’s continued absence by keeping them in India after the arrival of their first baby.

No other information was given on their whereabouts — or when they would return back to London for the newest social season.

“I think the strength of sending them off to India for a little while is that it does leave the door open for them to come back, schedules allowing,” showrunner Jess Brownell told Teen Vogue of the characters in June 2024. “I think, understandably, when any of our lead actors have given over their lives for their season, in future seasons, we want to be supportive of the fact that they do have other projects coming in, and to ask actors to come back just to be in the background is not really fair to them.”

Brownell clarified that the writers’ room wants Bailey and Ashley back “as much” as they are able to, adding, “They give so much, even with just tiny little looks and gestures. They’re a magic pairing, absolutely.”

At the time, Brownell explained the planned vision for Kate and Anthony.

“I think after all they went through in their season, obviously, the focus for us this season was just showing them in a more loving place. But we also wanted to underscore how they’re still the Kate and Anthony you know,” she continued. “They still banter with each other and get annoyed at each other. We wanted them to show up in that way … They’re in a much wiser place, both of them, in their relationship to relationships.”

Off screen, Quinn is launching her JQ Editions to recommend similar historical romance novels.

“I get so many readers who want to know, like, ‘What do I read after Bridgerton?’ And, ‘I’m new to historical romance, and what should I read?’ And now I can be like, ‘This. This is what you should read. These are my very favorite books,’” she shared with Us. “I do recommend books on social media. But this one, it’s going to be six books a year to start out. So these are the top, these are the very, very best. This is me saying, ‘This is the one you should read and I’m mailing it to your house.’”

The author is also partnering with Spotify to promote the streamer’s first-of-its-kind Page Match, where readers can connect physical and e-books to audiobooks on Spotify with a single scan.

“My jaw dropped,” Quinn said of seeing the feature for the first time. “I know so many people who have one book that they read and one book that they listen to because they read in bed and they listen to things at the gym. And now, with the Page Match, you can go back and forth seamlessly. You can stay with one book, which I think is incredible for people like me, who don’t split their attention very well.”

Bridgerton returns with the second part of season 4 on Thursday, February 26. All of the Bridgerton audiobooks are available in Spotify Premium.