“Bridgerton”’s Nicola Coughlan Says She 'Doesn't Care' About Body Positivity: 'That's Someone Else's Thing, Not Mine'
“Bridgerton”’s Nicola Coughlan Says She 'Doesn't Care' About Body Positivity: 'That's Someone Else's Thing, Not Mine'
Vanessa EtienneThu, March 5, 2026 at 11:24 PM UTC
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Nicola CoughlanCredit: Courtesy of ELLE UK / Georgia Devey Smith -
Nicola Coughlan criticized public focus on her body and pushed back on the idea that she is "plus size"
The actress said she has no interest in being a body positivity advocate, admitting that she didn't grow up thinking about actors' bodies
Coughlan previously asked fans to stop commenting on her appearance, saying it’s hard to handle constant scrutiny
Nicola Coughlan is not a fan of the discussions surrounding her body since she rose to fame following the success of Bridgerton.
In the April issue of Elle UK, published March 5, the 39-year-old Irish actress, who portrays Penelope Fetherington in the Netflix drama, spoke about the public response to her nude scenes and the absurdity of her body type being considered plus size.
“You know what was really bizarre was, when I was shooting that series, I was exercising a lot because I knew I had to, so I had lost a bunch of weight – I was probably a size 10 and one of the corsets was a size 8,” she said. “And then people talked about how I was plus size and I was like, ‘How f----ed are we that I am the biggest woman you want to see on screen?’”
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Nicola CoughlanCredit: Courtesy of ELLE UK / Georgia Devey Smith
Coughlan also added how “boring” it is that the focus is often on her weight rather than her work as an actress.
“I remember this really drunk girl once talking to me in a bathroom being like, ‘I loved [Bridgerton] because of your body.’ And started talking about my body, and I was like, ‘I want to die. I hate this so much,’” she recalled. “It’s really hard when you work on something for months and months of your life, you don’t see your family, you really dedicate yourself and then it comes down to what you look like – it’s so f---ing boring.”
Coughlan was previously praised for her vulnerability in her nude scenes while leading season 3 of Bridgerton alongside Luke Newton. However, she told the outlet she has no desire to become an advocate or the face of body positivity.
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“The thing I say sometimes that pisses people off is I have no interest in body positivity. When I was a kid growing up, I never thought about that. I didn’t look at actors and think about their bodies. So, I actually don’t care,” she admitted. “There’s a lot of things I’m passionate about, it’s not one of them… That’s someone else’s thing. It’s not mine.”
Nicola CoughlanCredit: Courtesy of ELLE UK / Georgia Devey Smith
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Back in January 2022, the actress addressed online scrutiny of her body on Instagram and requested that fans refrain from commenting about it.
"If you have an opinion about my body please, please don't share it with me," Coughlan asked. "It's really hard to take the weight of thousands of opinions on how you look being sent directly to you every day.”
"If you have an opinion about me that's ok," she added. "I understand I'm on TV and that people will have things to think and say but I beg you not to send it to me directly ❤️."
The April issue of Elle UK goes on sale on March 10. Birdgerton is now streaming on Netflix.
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Source: “AOL Entertainment”
