‘Women with perfect breasts don’t get to see ourselves onscreen enough!’ Bridgerton’s Nicola Coughlan is hailed an ‘icon’ for her ‘clever’ comeback to nudity question

Bridgerton’s Nicola Coughlan has been hailed as an ‘icon’ for her ‘clever’ comeback to a question about nudity as she took part in a promotional event for the Netflix series.

The actress, 37, plays Penelope Featherington in the hit show which returns on Wednesday for part two of series three – with the promise of more racy scenes, including a naked sex scene with Nicola.

The third series focuses on her steamy relationship with Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton).

During a special screening Q&A in Dublin about the new episodes, a female journalist commented that she was ‘very brave’ to play the role of Penelope Featherington – which some fans called a ‘backhanded comment’.

Nicola responded brilliantly, saying: ‘You know, it’s hard because I think women with my body type – women with perfect breasts – don’t see ourselves on screen enough!’

‘And I’m very proud to be a member of the perfect boobs community. I hope you enjoy seeing them.’

Fans of the star were quick to react as the moment began circulating on social media, saying: ‘It must have been one of those insulting, backhanded comments. Nicola is smart!’

“Great reaction, too bad we don’t see Luke’s reaction lol,”

‘Brilliant! Next question!’

‘icon behavior’,

‘she is my queen’.

Nicola turned heads at the special screening in Dublin last Thursday when she headed to the Light House Cinema with her co-star Luke.

In the first part of the season, their will-they-won’t-they flirt eventually turned into romance and ended with a raunchy cliffhanger, while the second part would be released on June 13.

Nicola pulled out all the stops for the special screening as she graced the red carpet in a custom black satin floor-length dress from Erdem.

The stylish ensemble featured a diamond-embellished corset bust, sheer shoulder details and a tulle skirt.

Season three of Bridgerton dropped last month, with eager fans wasting no time in settling in and devouring the latest antics of the Regency-era romantics.

And the series seems to be back better than ever, as it turns out What’s on Netflixit racked up a shocking 45.1 million views within just four days of being released worldwide on Netflix.

After the romp came under fire for its lack of steamy scenes in the second series, the first four episodes of series three treated viewers to at least six minutes of kissing, sex, threesomes and lesbian lovemaking.

But after being promised that this season would be the most exciting yet, fans still had to wait until the closing moments of part one for the central love story to really take off.

Series three focuses on the long-awaited romance between Penelope and Colin, but the storyline of the best friends realizing their true feelings proves to be a slow burner.

Part one ends on a steamy cliffhanger as after being unable to think of anyone else, Colin finally declares his love for Penelope in a carriage after Lord Debling left her heartbroken.

During the meeting at the end of the fourth episode, Penelope admits that she would “really like to be more than friends” with Colin, and the pair eventually kissed, after which they shared a pretty steamy scene together.

But just as they get in, they arrive at the Bridgerton house, and after Colin fixes Penelope’s dress and hair, he steps out of the carriage and extends his hand to Penelope to ask if she is coming with him.

The show was then left on a cliffhanger, as Colin hit fans with the iconic line from the Romancing Mister Bridgerton novel: “For God’s sake, Penelope Featherington, are you going to marry me or not?”