If you’ve watched two of the biggest TV shows of the last few years, you’ll have no doubt seen Nicola Coughlan – star of Bridgerton and Derry Girls.
After playing Clare Devlin in the Northern Irish comedy and Penelope Featherington in the romantic Netflix historical drama, Nicola has become a star of the small screen in the UK.
Not just a leading actress in Derry Girls and Bridgerton, Nicola has also become a familiar guest on panel shows, including Would I Lie to You? and Taskmaster, and even starred in 2023 box office smash Barbie.
And despite already being a familiar and famous face, her star is surely about to rise even further with the next season of Bridgerton, with brand new episodes coming to Netflix on May 16.
But as much as we’ve seen Nicola on our screens in recent years, it turns out some of us didn’t know her at all. We’ve all been left stunned after finding out her true age.
Brace yourselves: Nicola, who played 17-year-old Clare and 18-year-old Penelope, is 37 years old. Thirty. Seven. We’ll just give you all a moment to gather yourselves.
Don’t worry, though, you’re not the only ones who are struggling to cope with the news, with fans letting their feelings be known all over social media after a new Bridgerton trailer dropped.
On X, Kiki commented: ‘You’re telling me Nicola Coughlan is a whole 37 years of age? How can you look me in the eye and tell me that woman isn’t, at most, 25? I refuse to believe it. Conspiracy is afoot.’
Sophia expressed her feelings much more succinctly, simply shouting: ‘Nicola Coughlan is 37?!’
Comparing Nicola’s Clare to Siobhán McSweeney’s Sister Michaels from Derry Girls, Janel on Twitter was stunned to find out that the two actresses are only seven years apart in age.
‘Nothing has sold me on the “millennials are aging at a weird pace” theory more than the realisation that [Nicola and Siobhán] are only 7 years apart in age.’
Mikayla and Nicola, both fans of Bridgerton and Derry Girls, said their minds were blown and that it ‘made no sense’ that Nicola was only three years away from turning 40.
The illusion of Nicola being much younger than she is might have something to do with her only getting into regular acting in her late 20s – at the time of Derry Girls’ first episode in 2018, it had been Nicola’s first proper work for six years.
By then she was already 31 and by the time she began filming Bridgerton she was another year older.
The trailer for the third season of Bridgerton – which is being released in two batches this summer – had fans apparently ‘fainting’ with its intensity after nearly two years away.
The Shonda Rhimes hit period drama will be returning to screens in May and then June, with the focus this time around between Nicola’s character Penelope and Colin Bridgerton, played by Luke Newton.
Watch Bridgerton and Derry Girls on Netflix.
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