8 Shows to Watch If You Love Bridgerton’s World of Romance and Society Scandal
By Alexus Mosley
If Bridgerton drew you in with its glittering ballrooms, whispered scandals, and intoxicating romances, you’re not alone. The Netflix hit revived our collective obsession with high society drama, where reputations are currency, love is dangerous, and secrets never stay buried for long. Because everyone craves corsets, courtships, and power plays mixed with a bit of an irresistible blend of romance, ambition, and social intrigue, right? RIght!
Luckily, there’s no shortage of shows ready to sweep you back into worlds where love is risky, status is everything, and scandal is one chess move away. From forbidden romance to power-hungry elites, these eight shows capture the same delicious tension that makes Bridgerton impossible to resist.
Gossip Girl
Where modern scandal meets old-money rules. While set in contemporary New York, Gossip Girl is Bridgerton’s spiritual cousin. Replace debutante balls with charity galas and Regency etiquette with Upper East Side codes, and the DNA is unmistakable. Anonymous gossip, forbidden love, and ruthless social climbing drive the drama; Lady Whistledown would feel right at home here. There’s plenty of iconic fashion, romance under pressure, and scandal as a social sport.
The Gilded Age
Old money vs. new money, but with opera glasses on. From the creator of Downton Abbey, The Gilded Age explores 1880s New York high society during a time of seismic social change. Lavish sets, strict social rules, and quiet power wars unfold as characters navigate love, ambition, and class warfare. And if that alone doesn’t keep you, the rigid etiquette, societal maneuvering, and slow-burning romances with real stakes will.
Downton Abbey
If Bridgerton made you fall for aristocratic romance, Downton Abbey will deepen the obsession. The series follows the Crawley family and their staff as they navigate love, loss, and scandal in early 20th-century England, where even a whispered rumor can change everything. Courtships are shaped by class, of course. And it’s abundant with impeccable period detail and emotionally rich storytelling.
Reign
High drama, intense romances, and a youthful, stylish take on history. This teen drama meets royal scandal. Reign dramatizes the life of Mary, Queen of Scots, with a glossy, romantic twist. Political intrigue, forbidden love affairs, and palace gossip unfold amid elaborate costumes and dramatic power struggles. It’s a stylish take on history with high drama and intense romances.
Sanditon
Based on Jane Austen’s unfinished novel, Sandition is a Regency romance with modern sensibility. This show offers seaside glamour, ambitious women, and romantic tension simmering beneath polite society. It feels like Bridgerton’s quieter, more literary cousin, but still romantic, still scandalous, just a bit subtler. If you’re a fan of strong heroines, class dynamics, and swoon-worthy love stories, this one is for you.
The Buccaneers
Versailles
Scandal at the highest level of power. It’s opulence, ruthless power plays, and scandal without restraint.
Life at the court of Louis XIV is decadent, dangerous, and dripping with intrigue. Versailles leans into political manipulation, sexual scandal, and ambition, proving that royal life has always been a battlefield dressed in silk.
Outlander
Time-traveling romance with societal consequences. While more adventurous than Bridgerton, Outlander delivers epic romance set against rigid social hierarchies. Love clashes with duty, class, and politics as characters fight for agency in worlds that restrict them. Emotionally intense romance, historical immersion, and forbidden love themes.
Bridgerton didn’t just give us a show, but reignited a craving for romance where love is dangerous, society is unforgiving, and scandal is inevitable. These eight series keep that fantasy alive, offering lush settings, complicated relationships, and the delicious thrill of watching polite society unravel.