Bridgerton star Ben Miller has admitted he was taken aback by the steamy nature of the hit series.
The 58-year-old actor, known for his role in Death in Paradise, played Lord Featherington in the period drama and met his end in the first season. Reflecting on his character, he confessed there was more 'hanky panky' in the popular show than he had anticipated.
During an episode of Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh, which aired on December 22, the actor joined Moira Stuart and Anita Dobson as a guest.
Host Alan playfully prodded the actor about his career, jesting: "You have made one mistake in your life that I do want to point out," as he highlighted that Ben's character 'got killed off' in the midst of the show's 'enormous, great success', reports the Express.
This prompted Ben to express his shock upon viewing the series. He said: "Not only that but I had no idea. See, what I thought I was in was a sort of Jane Austen drama."
"Because I was cast as the father figure of this family, a bit of a ne'er-do-well, and all I did really was peer out from behind a newspaper at various drawing room happenings."
The actor went on to exclaim: "I had no idea all that hanky panky was going on behind the scenes because I was not involved in any way, in any of those storylines."
"When I watched the show I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe it. Shocked. Because as far as I was concerned it was a very genteel Jane Austen-like, sort of very well-behaved."
Alan didn't hold back when he weighed in on the popular period drama, pointing out a botanical blunder that's been bugging him: "I really want to love it but that wisteria drives me nuts. I mean it flowers every single day of the year - here comes a December shot with snow and the wisteria is in full bloom, I can't do that."
The wisteria has become somewhat of a signature feature in the Shondaland series, and hangs over the Bridgerton house.
Ben has previously dropped hints about his character making a comeback. Speaking to Good Morning Britain earlier this year, he remarked: "I never saw him die - and that's the crucial bit on TV. We didn't see him die. We saw him with some ruffians and then he just wasn't there."
Fans of Bridgerton can look forward to its fourth season hitting screens in 2026, hot on the heels of its third season which debuted to rave reviews this May.
Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh returns on Sunday at 9.30am on ITV1 and ITVX