OVER the past few years, Nicola Coughlan has been working hard towards her leading girl moment in Bridgerton series three.
The Derry Girls actress stars alongside heartthrob Luke Newton, 31, and we take a look at his life behind the scenes
In March of last year, The Sun On Sunday previously reported that the actor split from his girlfriend.
He had dated West End actress Jade Davies for three years, before he joined the celebrity dating app Raya.
Since then, rumours have circulated of a possible romantic connection with his co-star Nicola, as the pair display great chemistry and get on well together.
Nicola even made jokes on how the pair broke furniture during filming one of the series’ infamous sex scenes.
However, they both later confirmed to the world that their relationship is purely of a platonic nature.
At the New York premiere of Bridgerton, Nicola, 37, addressed the romance rumours head on.
She admitted: “We think it’s really sweet, I think because we truly love each other. He is a really special person in my life, and I got to do this experience with him.
“I’ll never get to do something like this again, on this scale… It’s so nice having such a lovely friend that I can do all this with.”
Luke first started his performance journey at the London School of Musical Theatre.
He was given his first acting role in the BBC teen drama series The Cut, where he played Luke Atwood.
Since then, he has appeared on stage in the West End in the Book of Mormon in 2013 before starring in the Disney series The Lodge.
He made his Bridgerton debut in 2023 as a young, fresh faced Colin Bridgerton, the third oldest of the seven sibling bunch.
As he took over as the lead for series three, fans couldn’t help but notice straight away his drastic transformation.
Gone is the baby face and viewers are now treated to chiseled facial features and ‘sturdy’ rippling muscles.
Luke can sing and I mean really sing!
He was previously a part of a group called South 4, where according to The Tab, they signed a £1 million record deal.
The band even released a single called Cougar Town, but they decided to split shortly after their debut.
Aide from making music for the series, The Lodge, Luke also used to post cover tracks of hit songs onto his own YouTube channel.
He said in an interview with the Evening Standard, that he inherited his voice from his father who was a contestant on the hit show, Stars In Their Eyes back in the 90’s.
Luke admitted: “He was on Stars in their Eyes and won it in like, ‘95 or so. He still holds on to that. If we go out and I get recognised, he’s like [points at himself] Stars in their Eyes, remember?”
Music seems to run in his family as two of his aunts have performed on the West End and his mother is the chair of Brighton & Hove Operatic Society.
