Bridgerton: Hannah Dodd to take over as Francesca Bridgerton after Ruby Stokes exits role

Dodd will play the sixth Bridgerton sibling in Netflix romantic drama

Hannah Dodd will join the Bridgerton cast as Francesca Bridgerton, after Ruby Stokes’ departure from the role.

Dodd, who recently featured in the Netflix limited series Anatomy of a Scandal as young Sophie, will take on the role of the sixth Bridgerton sibling in the romantic period drama.

For the first two seasons, the role was played by Stokes. However, she has now exited the role in order to star in Lockwood and Co, which will also be released by Netflix.

Though a part of Bridgerton’s central family, Francesca has been absent from the screen for much of the series so far.

After appearing twice in season one, she starred in the first three episodes of the second season, before disappearing completely.

Earlier this year, Bridgerton creator Chris Van Dusen commented on the character’s lack of screen time.

“I love Francesca, but we lost her midway through Season 2,” he told TVLine in March. “After exhausting all other options, she unfortunately had to come out due to reasons beyond our control.”

Luke Newton, Will Tilston, Claudie Jessie, Ruby Stokes Luke Thompson and Florence Hunt in ‘Bridgerton’ (LIAM DANIEL/NETFLIX)

This year, Dodd will also feature in Enola Holmes 2 alongside Millie Bobby Brown in the title role and Henry Cavill as Sherlock Holmes.

Bridgerton is based on Julia Quinn’s romantic novels. In the sixth book, When He Was Wicked, Francesca becomes the lead character, which may also be the case if the adaptation gets renewed for a sixth season in the future.

Season three will start production in London later this year.