Who Is 'Bridgerton's New Lady Whistledown? 6 Theories, Ranked

Netflix

After four seasons, Bridgerton is going full-circle with its first major mystery. Once again, the hunt is on to try to identify the ton’s covert gossipmonger, Lady Whistledown. And this time, superfans don’t have any clues from Julia Quinn’s novels to help them.

At the end of Season 4, Penelope Bridgerton officially retired as Lady Whistledown, announcing to the whole ton that there would be no more gossip columns. But that only remained true for about a day or so. Shortly after Penelope’s last missive, another Lady Whistledown took up the mantle, announcing herself in a flashy new column. The new author stated that she wanted to keep her identity a secret, with Penelope confirming that she was no longer the writer.

This second Lady Whistledown is a big change from Quinn’s books, in which Penelope is the only character to ever operate under the moniker. So, although readers can’t turn to ...