By Liana Jacob via SWNS
Netflix smash Bridgerton has sparked a surge in young visitors to the stately home where some of its iconic scenes are filmed.
Bosses at Castle Howard in North Yorkshire said the number of people aged 18-24 visiting their website soared by more than 3,000% when the period drama first aired.
Recent exhibitions celebrating the role it has had in television shows and films, including the 1980s series Brideshead Revisited, have been a hit.
Abbigail Ollive, visitor attraction director at Castle Howard, said: “Our recent Bridgerton event days in May and June were more interactive experiences, with dress-up stations, live music, and behind-the-scenes tours.
“Both events attracted new visitors who might not have previously considered visiting Castle Howard, and we have seen an increase in our visitor numbers as a result.”
Kiss Bridgerton GIFfrom Kiss GIFs
The Netflix smash – which follows eight siblings of the powerful Bridgerton family in their bids to find love – began filming at the stately home in 2019.
It took place during a busy month for staff, which included hosting BBC Countryfile Live attracted 30,000 people per day and Ellie Goulding’s wedding reception.
But Abigail is glad she agreed to film – and revealed there were some reservations about the amount of bonking in the script.
She added: “The inquiry came about because the director Julie-Ann Robinson had been as a visitor and had it in her mind as the location where she imagined the Duke of Hastings would reside.
“It was a brand new Netflix drama, we had no idea that it would become a worldwide hit.
“We knew it was fairly big, it had a crew of about 120 people, so we knew it was a substantial thing to take on.
“We eventually agreed that we would try and pull it off in August in our busiest month of the year.
“What a great decision that was for Castle Howard, it would have been really easy at that moment to say ‘no, we’re too busy’, which a more sensible person might well have done.
“When Bridgerton was pitched to us, I had to go through with the location manager what they wanted to do, what they wanted to film.
“I also thought I’d better do my homework and I read the script and it became apparent that what they wanted to do at Castle Howard was have sex everywhere.
“In terms of content, will that be on brand?
“Which we decided was ok but then we get into the more practical stuff, if you want to do that on our 18th century bed how do we make that work whilst still protecting its history.
“What they decided to do was take the mattress off and they fit out this bed with a series of different mattresses for the different scenes that were being shot which was really interesting to see.”
