‘Bridgerton’ Star Nicola Coughlan Shares What it was Like Guest-Starring on ‘The Great British Baking Show: Holidays’

Bridgerton won’t premiere on Netflix until Christmas day, but one of the Regency romance’s stars has already been spreading holiday cheer on the streaming service this month. Nicola Coughlan, who plays the beloved Penelope Featherington in Bridgerton, was also one of the Derry Girls who invaded the Great British Baking Show tent for a new installment of The Great British Baking Show: Holidays this year. That means that once Bridgerton premieres on December 25, Nicola Coughlan might officially be Netflix’s Queen of the 2020 Holiday Season.

Bridgerton is a lush period drama based on the uber-popular romance novels by Julia Quinn. The series follows the fortunes of the massive Bridgerton clan as the family’s eldest daughter, Daphne (Phoebe Dynevor), enters the marriage mart. Watching all the drama unfold is the family’s friend and neighbor, Penelope Featherington. Sweet, kind, and constantly struggling to fit in, Penelope is a fan favorite and Coughlan plays her to a tee.

Decider recently got the chance to chat with Coughlan about all things Bridgerton, and while you’ll have to hold tight a few days longer for that, we can share what she spilled about her frantic time in the “Bake Off” tent. In fact, she even showed Decider the apron she got from the show over Zoom! (“Hilariously, I was actually using my apron from Bake Off earlier not to ruin this lovely fancy dress while I ate my food,” Coughlan said pulling it into frame quickly with a laugh.)

Coughlan spilled that she almost didn’t even make it to the tent as she was filming Bridgerton at the same time. A last minute schedule shift cleared the way for her, though, to live every Great British Baking Show fan’s dream.

“I thought, if you get the chance to do Bake Off, you would be crazy not to do it. So I was like, ‘I’m gonna do it!'” Coughlan said, noting that she didn’t really have a ton of time to test out her recipes. “I wrapped filming on Bridgerton that day, and we were sat in the hotel bar in Bath. I was drawing [pictures of] cakes of what I thought I was going to make. For some reason, I thought I was going to be this incredibly talented cake maker,” Coughlan said, noting the reality of being in the tent is “really stressful.”

“I think it’s just part of my personality that I don’t want to do things unless I think I’m going to do them really, really well,” Coughlan said. “I wasn’t thinking, ‘I’ve been asked to do the show because I’m an actor on a funny show, and they want us to be funny.’ I was like, ‘I am a serious baker. I will make an incredible cake. I will win.’”

No spoilers for the episode, but as you could imagine, things didn’t go according to Couglan’s master plan. Still, she regrets nothing as she was such a huge fan of Sandi Toksvig, Noel Fielding, and Fielding’s famous show The Mighty Boosh.

“It was such a fun experience,” Coughlan said with a smile. “Noel and Sandi, I was a huge Mighty Boosh fan. Being even near them, I was like, ‘This is so cool.’ I was trying to play it cool, but I wasn’t feeling cool.”

Nicola Coughlan, you made a perfect swiss roll for your trifle on a special episode of The Great British Baking Show. You are cool.

Bridgerton premieres on Netflix on December 25, but you can watch The Great British Baking Show: Holidays episode featuring the Derry Girls on Netflix now.

Watch The Great British Baking Show: Holidays on Netflix

Where to stream Bridgerton