Siena & Anthony's Relationship in the Books: Did Netflix's Bridgerton Just Make It Up?

Netflix's Bridgerton is undoubtedly the ultimate feel-good romantic show, full of endearing stories and love-at-first-sight scenarios. However, some of its characters have done rather questionable things over the course of the series, and Anthony Bridgerton's affair with opera singer Siena Rosso is one prominent example.

Although Siena disappeared from view in the first season, fans still wonder what became of her and how Julia Quinn portrayed her relationship with Anthony in the original books.

Surprisingly, Siena didn't even exist in the original novels! Quinn does mention that Anthony had an infatuation with an opera singer, but the woman’s name does not appear on the pages of the book. So it looks like Shonda Rhimes invented this character from scratch and added a love triangle just because she wanted something to spice up the overall storyline.

In a dedicated discussion, a fan provided more details to shed some light on the issue:

'She was not in the books. Roughly based on an Italian opera singer named Maria Rosso who Anthony had a brief, off-page, non-emotionally entangled affair with prior to Book 1 and 2,' the commenter explained.

However, while this storyline was meant to be compelling to many fans, most of them were quite disappointed with the way Anthony behaved. Viewers argue that the young aristocrat seemed to only care about himself, not even thinking about how society would treat Siena if the news of their affair had become public.

People also note that the whole storyline felt a bit botched and completely inappropriate for a character like Anthony. In the end, the affair simply disappeared into thin air and was never mentioned again, leaving viewers to wonder why it was even introduced in the first place.

'I don't understand why they made that storyline up but didn't connect it with Season 2 or any growth to Anthony's character,' another fan commented. 'He just burnt her picture, [which] was a good way to show that he moved on, but why was that relationship significant?'

All in all, it looks like fans shouldn't expect to see actress Sabrina Bartlett in future seasons of Bridgerton, as the character has already overstayed her welcome in the very first season.

Source: Reddit.