‘I would have scheduled it’

If you’ve been wondering where Kate Bridgerton actually is these days, especially in the most reason season, you’re not alone, and now Simone Ashley has finally weighed in.

Speaking on the The Louis Theroux Podcast, Simone got real about her role in Bridgerton, her bond with Jonathan Bailey, and why her screen time has been… minimal, to say the least.

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For context, Simone’s character Kate basically was season two. Her enemies-to-lovers arc with Anthony (aka Jonathan Bailey) carried the entire storyline, so people were understandably confused when she popped up in season three for approximately five minutes before heading off on yet another honeymoon.

For most of season four, she’s still in India, living her best off-screen life, apparently. According to Simone, it’s not because she’s too busy to film. She actually shut that down pretty clearly.

Talking about Jonathan, she said he set the standard when it comes to commitment to the show: He was literally flying back and forth between Toronto and London while filming Wicked, just to make appearances.

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She said: “He set a great example of, for lack of a better word, the loyalty to the show. It is a show about family and returning home and returning to the family. I think a lot of people follow that suit. I can only comment on what me and Johnny have done. We just really make sure that our schedules can just make it work.”

Even with a packed schedule (she said she hit eight cities in one month earlier this year), she insists she would’ve made it work if she’d been needed. And that’s kind of the key point here: IF she’d been needed.

Because while people online have been blaming her schedule for Kate’s absence, what Simone actually implies is… it’s not really up to her.

She even said: “I would have done it. I would have scheduled it.”

Meanwhile, the show itself has its own explanation. Showrunner Jess Brownell has said Anthony being away was partly to give Benedict space to step up in the story. Which is fair enough, narratively. But it also means Kate, one of the most popular characters, has basically been written out for long stretches.

And Simone isn’t the only one this has happened to.

On Collider Ladies Night this week, Phoebe Dynevor (aka Daphne) has also said she’d “always come back if asked”, which… kind of says everything.

The good news is that the door is very much still open.