‘Seeing a midsize woman on screen in Bridgerton is the real body positivity we need’

Kat O'Connor

Bridgerton is making up for the damage Bridget Jones’s Diary caused for midsize gals

Trying to find midsize characters in the TV series or movies you watch can feel impossible at the best of times.

I grew up with movies like Love Actually and Bridget Jones’s Diary, which I still love to this day, but the way the lead characters were treated broke my heart.

Bridget Jones and Natalie in Love Actually were both mocked for being overweight although they were perfectly healthy.

They were no more than a size 12 but they were ridiculed for being overweight.

Bridget Jones spent half the film checking how much she weighed, anxiously checking the scales and hoping she would shed weight.

Thankfully those days are slowly fading away and pop culture is more body-positive than ever before.

One show that finally helped me accept my midsize body was Bridgerton.

Season three is just around the corner and I cannot wait for Penelope Featherington to take centre stage.

Nicola Coughlan’s character has not only helped me accept my midsize body but also helped me see that all bodies are beautiful.

How Penelope looks doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things, but having someone who is midsized in such a major TV series matters.

Seeing midsize women being celebrated on screen is a breath of fresh air compared to the days when they were ridiculed for wearing clothes bigger than a size 8.

Nicola Coughlan told Tatler that she wants to be appreciated as an actor and not a body-positive influencer, but through her acting, she’s making so many women and young girls feel better.

She told the publication: “I also think your relationship to your body is so personal. If I decide to suddenly become a bodybuilder and [apply] fake tan and be covered in muscle, I can do that – because it’s my body and it’s for nobody else to own or decide what to do with.”

Nicola is one of the best actresses to come out of Ireland in recent years. She won us all over as Clare in Derry Girls, but now she’s making so many of us embrace who we are, as well as entertaining us in Bridgerton.

The star, the comedic genius, the fashion icon, and the inspiration, the actress’s list of talents never ends.