Nicola Coughlan has sparked romance rumours with British actor Jake Dunn after they were spotted hand-in-hand during a night out in North London.

The Bridgerton star, 37, traded her character Penelope Featherington’s Regency attire for a casual black dress, tights, and oversized cardigan for their date night

Dunn, 24, kept it laid-back in cargo pants, a red-and-white baseball tee, and a cap as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder in photos obtained by MailOnline.

It’s speculated that they met through her Derry Girls co-stars, as Dunn has previously acted alongside Louise Harland and Dylan Llewellyn.

The pair first fueled romance speculation in March after they posed together for an Instagram post shared by one of Dunn’s Renegade Nell co-stars.

Since then, the pair has been spotted at London’s All Points East festival in August and have been seen on several occasions around North London.

The Standard has contacted Nicola Coughlan and Jake Dunn’s reps for comment.

Earlier this year, Bridgerton fans speculated about Coughlan’s relationship with her co-star Luke Newton after they were seen holding hands at the show’s Australian launch event in May.

However, shortly after the premiere of season three, Newton confirmed his romance with dancer Antonia Roumelioti – and Coughlan insisted that the pair have a “gorgeous friendship”.

She quipped to Time magazine earlier this month: “A lot of people really want me to marry Luke. We have this gorgeous friendship.

“We have such a love for one another and this experience that I’ll never have with someone else again. Isn’t it gorgeous that a man and woman can have that sort of relationship with one another?”

While their friendship is strong, the pair previously shared how they broke a chaise lounge while filming the saucy intimate scenes for the latest installment of the Netflix drama.

She told Entertainment Weekly: “We did break a piece of furniture while doing one scene. It’s a little bit like a stunt in which they’re like, ‘Okay, we’re gonna do this, this, and this.’

“But then they gave us freedom and we had a lot of say in how we did those scenes and what we wanted to do. That makes you feel quite empowered.

“So we felt super. They were actually really enjoyable. I didn’t think they would be. It was fun.”

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