Nicola Coughlan has been nominated for her first BAFTA. She has been nominated for a gong in the Female Performance in a Comedy category for her performance in Big Mood
Bridgerton star Nicola Coughlan has been nominated for her first-ever TV BAFTA Award. She received a nomination for Female Performance in a Comedy for her role in Channel 4’s comedy-drama Big Mood. Nicola opened up about how she felt after receiving the nomination, taking to Instagram to share her reaction.
She posted a snap alongside the Big Mood cast and, overwhelmed with emotion, captioned the post: “Holy moly, I’ve been nominated for a BAFTA. I’ve tried to write a long caption, but I’m too overwhelmed, excited, and emotional to explain how much it means to me – so please enjoy.”
The collection of photos included a touching moment of Nicola capturing her mum’s reaction to the news – her mother broke into tears of joy.
She added in the caption: “Pic 2: Ringing my mum and getting to tell her forehead the news.” In the picture, Nicola could be seen crying as she shared the incredible moment with her mother.
The fourth slide of her post featured a snap with Big Mood creator Camilla Whitehill. Nicola continued: “Pic 4: Camilla and I at 21 & 19, not knowing that one day one would write the other a part so incredible that she’d get nominated for a BAFTA. I love you, my girl.”
Nicola rose to fame for her eccentric and comedic role as Clare Devlin in Derry Girls, which she joined in 2018. Clare is the voice of reason in her friendship group and is intelligent and studious, often being more intimidated by her friends than by authority figures. She came out as lesbian as the end of season one.
The show follows five teenagers living in mid-1990s Derry while attending Our Lady Immaculate College, a fictional girls’ Catholic secondary school. The first series became the most-watched series in Northern Ireland and was followed up by two more series on Channel 4.
She gained even more recognition when she joined Bridgerton, which premiered in December 2020. She plays the fan-favorite character Penelope Featherington, who is Lady Whistledown. In Bridgerton, each season focuses on a different love story. The first season followed Daphne Bridgerton (played by Phoebe Dynevor), while the second focussed on her brother Anthony Bridgerton (Jonathan Bailey) as he courted Kate Sharma (Simone Ashley).
Season three, however, shined the spotlight on Nicola’s character, Penelope, allowing fans to see more of her talent. On the show, Nicola plays the youngest daughter of a nouveau-riche family in the Regency era in London and has since become a fan-favourite.
Outside of work, Nicola has been notoriously quiet about her love life but has been linked to fellow actor Jake Dunn as of August 2024. The pair were spotted in October enjoying a stroll in London on a cosy date night out as well as many other occasions.
Fans had also speculated she was dating her Bridgerton co-star and on-screen love interest Luke Newton (who plays Colin Bridgerton) after the two held hands at the season three launch event. However, she shut down rumours as she said they are strictly friends and nothing more than that.
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