The cast of Bridgerton were out in force on Tuesday night to celebrate the upcoming launch of the period drama’s second season.
But you might have noticed there was a notable absentee from the festivities.
![The stars of Bridgerton at the season 2 premiere](https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/623ae2731e0000d33c1b0d9a.jpeg?ops=scalefit_720_noupscale)
Nicola Coughlan – who portrays Penelope Featherington in the hit Netflix series – was unable to attend the London event, after testing positive for Covid shortly beforehand,
However, the Derry Girls star wasn’t going to let a little thing like coronavirus stand in the way of her good time, getting glammed up for an Instagram snap in a dressing gown and towel combo.
“My Bridgerton premiere look – a little different than expected,” she joked.
“So I’ve been struck down with Miss Rona and I’m missing our first premiere – heartbroken is an understatement but sending so much love to my gorgeous castmates who I hope have the best night.”
After her character’s major twist at the end of the season one finale, Nicola can be seen back in action as Penelope in the follow-up, which debuts on Netflix on Friday 25 March.
There will be a few changes from the first series, though, namely the absence of Regé-Jean Page, with Jonathan Bailey’s character set to take centre stage in the new batch of episodes.
![Jonathan Bailey](https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/623ae2b02300004178138047.jpeg?ops=scalefit_720_noupscale)
In addition to Bridgerton, there’s not long to wait before we can catch Nicola in the third and final series of Derry Girls, which will be arriving on Channel 4 soon.
The first trailer for the new season debuted last week, and after a three-year absence, it was refreshing to see it was very much a case of business as usual for Erin, Orla, Clare, Michelle and James.