Bridgerton fans have lashed out after an opinion article referred to Penelope Featherington and Colin Bridgerton as a "mixed-weight romance."
The Forbes article suggested that the world is "still not ready" to accept two individuals of differing body types being seen dating on their TV screens. Writer Virgie Tovar - a "leading expert on weight bias" - took aim at Nicola Coughlan and Luke Newton's on-screen personas focusing on their differing body types as opposed to their captivating performance.
Tovar wrote that Penelope and Colin's relationship "defied romance plotline convention," because Nicola is "larger" than Luke. While the whole article sparked criticism it appeared to be the use of the term "mixed-weight romance" that prompted the biggest backlash from readers.
Outraged fans of Shonda Rhimes hit series then took to X to air their opinions as they slammed both the publication and the writer. One scathing user posted: "'Mixed weight relationships' is so so so funny like bro have you ever been outside?"
A second wrote: "'Mixed-weight relationships', I hate it here." Meanwhile, other fans of Bridgerton questioned why the "mixed-weight" has only become an issue when it is a woman larger than a man, pointing out that there has never been an article written about the larger men dating smaller women in movies and on TV.
One ranted: "Fat women really are just hated by society on a molecular level because what the f*** is a mixed weight relationship?? And f*** me, but where are the articles about all the couples on TV that are fat men and skinny women? Or fat men with skinny men? Like. Wtf does this even mean?"
Another wrote: "I find it interesting how there are countless fictional couples in film and television where the man weighs more than the woman but people didn’t start writing articles about whatever the f*** a 'mixed-weight romance' is until it was the other way around." A third said: "Aside from how ridiculous this whole headline is let’s just remember that 'mixed weight relationships' have been very common on TV with one significant difference than the one noted here like it’s literally a sitcom trope."
A fourth social media user commented: "Funny. 'Mixed-weight' relationships have been on screen for a long time. It’s only a problem when the woman is heavy." Other users also pointed out that overweight men dating skinny women has been broadly accepted on TV for many years with examples including Peter and Lois Griffin, Doug and Carrie Heffernan, Homer and Marge Simpson, Carl and Harriet Winslow, Fred and Wilma Flintstone, Bob and Abishola.
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