2 weeks ago
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ACTRESS Nicola Coughlan is laughing all the way to the bank, with revenue at her company soaring a staggering 16-fold in just one year – thanks in no small part to her starring role in the hit Netflix bonkbuster, Bridgerton.
Accounts filed with Companies House in the UK show that Galway-born Coughlan, 39, had just under €1.8million in the bank last year.
The actress is the sole director of Businesswoman Special Productions Limited, the UK-registered company through which she provides her services as a professional performer.
Its accounts show the firm had cash of €1,756,199 at the end of May 2025, up from €106,674 12 months earlier.
The significant increase in income came in the year Coughlan took the lead in the third season of Netflix’s hit period drama, playing Penelope Featherington, the society wallflower secretly writing as gossip columnist Lady Whistledown.
Accounts filed with Companies House in the UK show that Galway-born Coughlan, 39, had just under €1.8million in the bank last year
The accounts also show that the company cleared a tax bill of €444,230 that had been outstanding at the end of the previous financial year.
And while the company owes €2million to a creditor, the creditor is Coughlan herself and she has confirmed she will not call on the debt until the company has ‘sufficient working capital’.
Coughlan, who grew up in Oranmore outside Galway city, found fame in 2018 as Clare Devlin in Channel 4’s Derry Girls before being cast by producer Shonda Rhimes in Bridgerton.
She has since appeared in Barbie and the Doctor Who Christmas special, stars in her own Channel 4 comedy Big Mood, and has joined the cast of the sixth season of Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building.
Her success has also made her a sought-after name for major brands.
In June 2024 – at the height of Bridgerton fever – Kim Kardashian’s shapewear label Skims chose her to front its Soft Lounge campaign.
Kardashian said at the time that having Coughlan star in the campaign was ‘a full circle moment’, praising her ‘undeniable beauty and energy’.
In June 2024 – at the height of Bridgerton fever – Kim Kardashian’s shapewear label Skims chose her to front its Soft Lounge campaign
In February 2025, she was unveiled as Neutrogena’s ambassador for the UK and Ireland, joining a glittering roster that includes Wednesday star Jenna Ortega and Hailee Steinfeld.
Two months later, she appeared in hair care brand Olaplex’s Designed to Defy campaign, its first since a brand overhaul, alongside fashion figure Jenna Lyons and Olympic champion Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone.
The value of the deals has not been disclosed.
As Coughlan’s star has risen, she has become a fixture on the red carpet boosting her earning power.
Working with stylist Aimee Croysdill, she made her Met Gala debut in 2022 in a pink and black satin Richard Quinn gown.
For the London premiere of Bridgerton’s third season, she wore a blush-pink sequin off-the-shoulder Rodarte gown with velvet opera gloves and a veil.
Speaking to W magazine during the press tour, she said that it ‘felt like it was time to take up space as a leading lady and dress for the moment’.
Coughlan then returned to Richard Quinn for the BAFTA TV Awards in May 2025, wearing a black and white gown with sculptural rosettes at the shoulders.
As Coughlan’s star has risen, she has become a fixture on the red carpet boosting her earning power
The actress has spoken openly about the scrutiny of her appearance, writing on Instagram that ‘it’s really hard to take the weight of thousands of opinions on how you look being sent directly to you every day’.
Away from the screen, Coughlan has never been shy about wading into the political issues of the day, from Gaza to trans rights, abortion and marriage equality.
Gaza has been by far her biggest crusade and she’s shown that she’s willing to put her money where her mouth is.
Since November 2023, she has also run a series of Instagram fundraisers for Medical Aid for Palestinians, ActionAid UK and the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund.
In July 2024, the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund publicly thanked her for raising $2million (€1.7m) for its Gaza relief work.
‘If I can hopefully raise funds for aid organisations, it would be a wonderful thing to do,’ she told Teen Vogue.
Coughlan has said her interest in the region stems from her family’s history.
Her father served with the Irish Army in a UN peacekeeping mission in the Middle East, and the family lived in Jerusalem in the late 1970s.
In July 2025, she pledged to match donations to Medical Aid for Palestinians up to £10,000 (about €11,800), and also used the appeal to criticize the UK government over the hunger crisis in Gaza.
‘The government here in the UK, [former British prime minister] Keir Starmer, is doing nothing about it, ignoring it, acting like it’s not happening,’ she said in a video that was posted to Instagram.
She then took on the trans rights row. Following the UK Supreme Court’s ruling on the legal definition of a woman in April 2025, she collected for the trans charity Not A Phase, raising almost €140,000.
English (US) ·