Bridgerton's Nicola Coughlan Reveals the Prank She Pulled on Luke Newton After Learning He Was in a Boy Band (Exclusive)

Luke Newton's boy band past gave Nicola Coughlan all the motivation she needed to hatch a plan to prank him.

When asked about her favorite behind-the-scenes moments while filming the upcoming third season of the hit Netflix series, the 37-year-old actress exclusively tells PEOPLE,  “We had a fun one in one of the balls where Luke is meant to come in and interrupt a dance.” 

“I had found out a few years previous that Luke used to be in a boy band, and I just thought it was the best thing ever,” she shares in a joint interview with Newton. “I had for years wanted to do this prank on him where he comes in to do a dance and instead of the music for the show playing, it would be his song from his boy band, but it took so much planning, it was insane.”

Newton, 31, adds that the moment was “amazing” but Coughlan recalls being “really nervous” at the time.

“I remember we knew what take it was going to happen on, the cameras were set up to turn to be on him, but it was so cute because you come up onto the dance floor and you interrupt this dance, and then we stand together to start dancing, and then your little face you went,” she tells Newton while making a confused face. “Yeah, that's all been filmed, so I've not seen it full. I've only seen a little bit back, but I'm really excited to watch.”

As for Newton, he could feel an energy shift on set moments before Coughlan pulled the prank.

“It was so strange because I could feel it like a weird energy,” he recalls. “I could feel that there was like, people were looking at me over their shoulder and I was like, are people nervous about me doing this dance? Because I'm absolutely fine, we'll get through it.” 

He continues, “And then all of a sudden I hear it because I had a piece in my ear first, I just had the tick, tick, tick, and I was like, it really sounds like... And then it was blasting on the speakers and all the dancers…”

Coughlan interjects, “All the dancers started going, everyone's there cheering.”

Despite the prank going off without a hitch, Coughlan admits: “I feel like I've never been more nervous on set, not even for a sex scene. I was like, if this goes wrong…”

“That scene will always remind me of that [prank],” Newton says while Coughlan adds, “Same.”

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The first part of Bridgerton season 3 premieres on May 16, and part 2 drops on June 13. Seasons 1 and 2 of Bridgerton — as well as its spinoff, Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story — are now streaming on Netflix.