Jessica Madsen Sets the Record Straight on Cressida’s Sexuality

Sorry, Creloise hopefuls: Jessica Madsen has confirmed that her Bridgerton character Cressida Cowper is not gay.

While Bridgerton has taken a pretty big leap in terms of its LGBTQ+ representation recently, with Benedict Bridgerton coming out as bisexual in season three and Francesca set to begin a queer romance in season four, viewers want more.

In particular, fans of Cressida and Eloise Bridgerton (Claudia Jessie) have been calling for their foes-to-friends narrative arc to take another turn, coining the ship name Creloise in hope that the pair might get together.

But, speaking exclusively to PinkNews at The Devil Wears Prada: The Musical’s charity on Sunday night (1 December), Madsen poured cold water on the idea, insisting her character was “not gay, but that’s OK”.

She went on to say Cressida’s behaviour at the end of season three was “a little questionable” and she’d like to see her make amends in season four.

Cressida (R) and Eloise are friends and nothing more. 

In season three, fans got to see a more complex side to her, and although she wasn’t the straight-up mean girl fans knew her to be in season one – thanks largely due to her friendship with Eloise – she still displayed a few character flaws, such as blackmailing Penelope Featherington after learning that she was Lady Whistledown.

“I would like to see her take responsibility for what she did towards the end and really make amends,” Madsen said of her hopes for Cressida in season four. “Or just turn really bad. One or the other.”

Madsen has previously said that Cressida and Eloise’s relationship is nothing more than plutonic. “It is just a friendship, one we see, by the end, in tatters,” she told Refinery29. “I do hope they can find a way back to each other but a big apology from Cressida is in order after some processing and digesting.”

That said, Madsen was pleased to see the show’s queer fans rallying around the idea of more lesbian characters. “As a queer woman, it fills my heart with so much joy to see that there is a hunger for queer romance on the show,” she said.

Madsen came out as queer earlier this year and, continuing her conversation with PinkNews, had a message for those thinking of doing the same.

“Be brave and be fearless,” she advised. “I find it so important for me to be transparent and honest about it because it took me a while to figure it out for myself.

“It’s really important to just go out there and be like: ‘This is who I am’. I hope one day that it doesn’t matter, that these things don’t matter. But right now, it does matter and you have to be visible and you have to speak out, you have to be yourself.”