Penelope Featherington and Colin's first time having sex brought viewers to tears as part two of series three of Bridgerton dropped on Netflix on Thursday.
Fans had been waiting on tenterhooks to see the hotly-anticipated six-minute sex scene on a chaise longue, after part one, which dropped last month, ended with a steamy carriage ride and Colin asking for Penelope's hand in marriage.
Viewers took to X, formerly Twitter, to applaud Nicola Coughlan, who plays Penelope, and producers for the 'empowering' episode, which saw the actress, 37, strip off with Luke Newton, 31.
They wrote: ' Bridgerton deserves ALL the awards for the way they're showing Penelope's pleasure as something sensual and desirable and BEAUTIFUL.'
'not even 25 minutes and I'm in a flood of tears, you have no idea how important it is for me to see a woman with Nicola's body being so desired and loved in a sex scene because that is one of my biggest insecurities... I'm too much happy'.
Penelope Featherington and Colin's first time having sex brought viewers to tears as part two of series three of Bridgerton dropped on Netflix on Thursday
Episode five of Bridgerton featured a six-minute long sex scene between Penelope Featherington ( Nicola Coughlan ) and Colin Bridgerton's (Luke Newton)
'Nicola Coughlan, you absolute goddess.... Episode 5... I cried.'
Others joked: 'Nicola wasn't lying when she said she has perfect breasts' after the actress said earlier this week: I'm very proud as a member of the perfect breasts community. I hope you enjoy seeing them.'
Others applauded Colin (Luke Newton) for giving a lesson in consent.
In the explicit scene, Penelope was being comforted by Luke after a row with her mother about her engagement, during which time they began kissing.
Luke then began to grope his fiancée before undoing her corset and admiring her naked figure.
The pair then moved to the chaise longue where Luke's bare bottom was displayed before they touched each other intimately.
They checked in on each other constantly, with Penelope stating: 'tell me what to do', with Luke offering: 'you could touch me.'
After warning his virginal bride that this 'may hurt' the pair then had sex, with Penelope asking at the end 'can we do it again?' to which Colin quipped: 'give me 5 minutes, maybe 10
They wrote: 'Colin Bridgerton is our Consent King.
Fans had been waiting on tenterhooks to see the hotly-anticipated sex scene between the pair, after part one, which dropped last month, ended with a steamy carriage ride
Viewers took to X, formerly Twitter, to applaud Nicola Coughlan and producers for the 'empowering' episode, which saw the actress, 37, strip off in the racy six-minute scene
'As someone who has been extremely insecure in a relationship, Colin gave Penelope a beautiful first time! The compliments, the reassurance the was he made it personal... the confidence he gave her. That sex scene was everything.'
On Wednesday, Nicola was hailed an 'icon' for her 'clever' comeback to a question about nudity while filming the third series.
During a special screening Q&A in Dublin about the new episodes, a female journalist commented that she was 'very brave' to play the role of Penelope Featherington - which some fans branded a 'backhanded comment'.
And in a video captured by Goss.ie, Nicola then brilliantly responded saying: 'You know, it is hard because I think women with my body type - women with perfect breasts - we don't get to see ourselves onscreen enough!'
'And I'm very proud as a member of the perfect breasts community. I hope you enjoy seeing them.'
Fans of the star were quick to respond to the moment that has begun circulating on social media as they said: 'It must have been one of those insulting, backhanded comments. Nicola's clever!'
Bridgerton fans even booked the day off work with eager viewers saying they only had a few hours' sleep as they stayed up into the early hours to watch the cast attend the red carpet premiere before counting down to the 8am release.
Nicola and Luke previously revealed they filmed so many romps that by the end they were comfortable lounging around together naked between takes.
Fans flooded X, formerly Twitter, to share their excitement and plans for the day, with some booking the day off work in advance to watch the next four episodes.
Bridgerton fans booked the day off work as Netflix dropped part two of series three on Thursday
Eager viewers stayed up into the early hours to watch the cast attend the red carpet premiere before counting down to the 8am release
They wrote: 'Dearest Gentle Reader, you don't have to show up at work today, as our Queen has decreed that this part of the season belongs to the employees
'Less than 2 hours to go before the release of Bridgerton S3 Part 2! I only had 3 hours of sleep 'coz I stayed up until the wee hours of the morning to watch the red carpet premier and advance streaming of Ep5. Not really sleepy because of excitement! Didn't go to work for this!'
'In one hour we will have Pen and Colin madly in love, having sex, getting married and living happily ever after (yeah yeah with all the Wistledown mess). We made it guys, we waited two years but we made it.'
' I wanna take off work to binge watch Bridgerton tomorrow'.
'So... it seems 'the carriage scene' won't be my favour anymore. Haha. Love it.'
'Once again, we're expected to work when Bridgerton is out?' and 'In one hour we will have Pen and Colin madly in love, having sex, getting married and living happily ever after (yeah with all the Whistledown mess). We made it guys, we waited two years but we made it'.
'HAPPY SEASON 3 PART 2 DAY TO ALL WHO CELEBRATE'.
Season three part one of Bridgerton dropped last month, with eager fans wasting no time in settling down to devour the latest antics of the Regency era romantics.
Fans flooded X, formerly Twitter , to share their excitement and plans for the day, with some booking the day off work in advance to watch the next four episodes
Season three of Bridgerton dropped last month, with eager fans wasting no time in settling down to devour the latest antics of the Regency era romantics
Part One ended on a steamy cliffhanger as after being unable to think of anyone else, Colin eventually declared his love for Penelope in a carriage
And the trailer for part two has hinted at even more drama yet to come with tensions set to rise between the newest couple Penelope and Colin
Nicola and Luke attended the premiere for the part 2 series 3 premiere on Wednesday night
The series seems to be back better than ever, as according to What's On Netflix, it pulled in a shocking 45.1M views within just four days of going global on Netflix.
After the romp-fest came under fire for its lack of steamy scenes in the second series, the first four episodes of series three treated viewers to at least six minutes of kissing, sex, threesomes and lesbian love-making.
But after being promised that this season is the steamiest yet, fans were still made to wait until the closing moments of part one for the central love story to really kick off.
Series three focuses on the long-awaited romance between Penelope and Colin, but the plotline of the best friends realising their true feelings proves to be a slow burner.
Part One ends on a steamy cliffhanger as after being unable to think of anyone else, Colin eventually declares his love for Penelope in a carriage after she was left heartbroken by Lord Debling.
During the encounter at the end of the fourth episode, Penelope admits she'd 'very much like to be more than friends' with Colin, and the pair eventually kiss, going on to share quite the steamy scene together.
But just as they're getting into it, they arrive at the Bridgerton house, and after Colin fixes Penelope's dress and hair, he steps down from the carriage and puts out his hand to Penelope to ask whether she's coming with him.
The show was then left on a cliffhanger, as Colin hit fans with the iconic line from the Romancing Mister Bridgerton novel: 'For God's sake, Penelope Featherington, are you going to marry me or not?'
Viewers can expect things to get steamy between the pair. In the first four episodes of series three, there was six minutes of kissing, sex, threesomes and lesbian love-making.
It was a jump from the lack of steamy scenes in the second series, which included just a meagre three minutes of bedroom action amid eight hours and 29 minutes of screen time.
Nicola previously revealed: 'I think we've won the sauciness for this series!' as she detailed the sex scenes.
She teased what fans can expect to see, telling Entertainment Weekly: 'We did break a piece of furniture while doing one scene. It's a little bit like a stunt in which they're like, 'Okay, we're gonna do this, this, and this.
'But then they gave us freedom and we had a lot of say in how we did those scenes and what we wanted to do. That makes you feel quite empowered.
'So we felt super. They were actually really enjoyable. I didn't think they would be. It was fun.'
She also revealed in an interview with the Radio Times: 'There is one where I am very naked on camera and that was my idea, my choice.
'It just felt like the biggest 'f*** you' to all the conversations surrounding my body. It was amazingly empowering. Having now watched those scenes, I'm so proud of them.'
Despite her confidence now, the actress previously admitted she was initially terrified to film sex scenes with Luke .
She said on The One Show: 'It's not one to watch with the family. Take of that what you will.
'It was terrifying. I am an Irish woman, and any Irish woman would feel like they can't do this. And then I went and realised, it's my job so I better.
'I had a great partner, and it was terrifying, but really liberating. I was exhausted by the end.'
