Netflix’s powerhouse, Bridgerton, has shattered expectations in countless ways. From saying “hell no” to an all-white cast for yet another period drama to embracing rainbow-like costume designs, Bridgerton has cast the Regency era in a new light.
In its four seasons, the show has made audiences of almost every background feel represented through its diverse roster of romantic leads. We’re even getting teases of a queer romance in the form of Francesca and gender-bent character Michaela, but we’re still missing one group in the role of romantic lead: disabled folks.
Disabled people have always been treated as unsuitable for, uninterested in sex, or incapable of it, so needless to say, depictions of my diverse community on screen in a romantic capacity are mixed to say the least. In fact, we barely make it on screen at all. Despite accounting for 25% of the UK population — yes, that’s correct, one in four people in the UK are disabled — disabled people are frequently sidelined in film and TV.
We’re tokenised or trussed up as inspirational fodder for non-disabled audiences to pity or to admit, “I’d kill myself if I were like that”. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard those exact words to my face. So, it’s not exactly surprising that we’re rarely cast as romantic leads or even side interests when many can’t even see the point in living a disabled life, let alone finding love with a disability. But within the vibrant world of Bridgerton, I feel a glimmer of hope for disabled representation on screen.
Throughout its three-and-a-half seasons, Bridgerton has sprinkled disabled characters into the background, and in Season 3, the producers made a concerted effort to increase representation. Lord Remington, a charming and intelligent gentleman, piqued Penelope Featherington’s interest during her search for a husband. While Remington disappeared as quickly as he appeared, his inclusion as a wheelchair user whose disability is simply part of him, rather than his only character trait, was a huge win for disabled representation. As was his framing as a viable romantic interest for Penelope!
Though his appearance was fleeting, any positive depictions of disability on screen are a welcome departure from oft-overused stereotypes that treat disabled people as fascinating oddities or inspirational warnings. We also had our first glimpse of British Sign Language (BSL) with the introduction of a hard-of-hearing/Deaf debutante during season 3. These moments are almost blink-and-you’ll-miss-it scenes, yet they feel like a friendly wink from writers to disabled audience members to say, “Hey, we see you, and we want to represent you.”
.jpg)
The first drop of season 4 has expanded its inclusion of disabled characters by casting Gracie McGonigal, an actress with a limb difference, as a maid named Hazel, and by including another moment with two people using BSL. This time, it felt more significant because the BSL was positioned at the forefront of a scene in a satisfyingly gossipy moment. When Lady Araminta Gun, or Lady Penwood, enters a party after instigating “maid-gate,” which causes chaos in the ton, the signers openly mock her as she strides past them. That small aside demonstrates how easy it is to include disabled people in every fictional universe.
However, I still have one more desire that this saucy show hasn't yet fulfilled. I want a sexy, charismatic romantic lead who also happens to have a disability. I want to see them breathy with desire, falling head over heels and being loved wholly for who they are, including their disability. Bridgerton has broken down so many barriers, largely thanks to the almighty Shonda Rhimes steering the ship. It’s time the show turns its attention to another underrepresented group: the diverse disability community. With one casting choice outside the box, Bridgerton could cast out stereotypes of disabled people as unattractive, non-sexual beings, and prove just how sexy and desirable we all are.
“Why does this group need representation?” I hear you ask. Because disabled people so rarely get any at all. Between 2016 and 2023, disability representation on TV hovered between a measly 2.6% and 4.7%, a drastic difference from the 25% of the actual population living with a disability. Even worse, the vast majority of disabled characters in film are played by non-disabled actors — nearly 80%, in fact.
If Bridgerton challenged the status quo and made a disabled actor the romantic lead on a show with hundreds of millions of viewers, it would challenge millennia of ingrained disabled stereotypes. It would recontextualise disability for the millions of non-disabled people who can’t see past our disabilities to recognise our romantic and sexual potential. One casting choice could be a beacon for disabled people to hold in pride, to show that we are so much more than the presumptions placed on us.
Many disabled people live romantically and sexually fulfilled lives, with other disabled people and with non-disabled folks. We are not a non-sexual monolith just because some people don’t find us attractive or assume we can’t have sex. We just need the rest of the world to catch up and see how diversely beautiful our community is.
And all it would take is for a casting producer to take the leap and put disability on next season’s global pedestal. Centre a disabled person in a global smash like Bridgerton and we’ll see changes that teenage me growing up with zero representation could only dream of. It only takes one person to see beyond society’s dull stigma for all of us to experience horny enlightenment that lets us drool over hot actors equally, regardless of race, disability, or gender.
We're feeling horny in our petticoats.
