The one thing everyone is getting wrong about Benedict Bridgerton's story.

For years, Benedict has been Bridgterton's most tantalising enigma — the artist who preferred the shadows of the studio to the glare of the ballroom. The man whose heart seemed too vast for the rigid boxes of Regency society. 

Now that his season has finally arrived, the world is rightfully obsessed with the sweeping, fairytale romance between him and Sophie Baek. Yet, beneath the gorgeous gowns and orchestral pop covers, a different kind of obsession is spreading across the internet.

A heated debate has taken hold of the fandom, centred on a single, frustrating misconception that suggests Benedict's path to the altar is somehow a detour from who he truly is. 

Watch: Bridgerton showrunner on Benedict's love story in Season 4. Article continues after video.

For three seasons, Benedict served as the show's resident bohemian, his curiosity acting as a gateway to the more progressive fringes of society. We watched his eyes linger on Sir Henry Granville in the first season, and we saw his world expand significantly during his exploratory relationship with Lady Tilley Arnold and Paul Suarez. 

He has always been and continues to be complex but entirely himself. But somehow the central commentary currently trending online seems to continue to stem from a very rigid, binary, and frustratingly common view of sexuality. 

Many fans feel that because this season focuses on Benedict's romance with Sophie, the show has walked back his queerness to appease a traditional audience. Commentary is circulating claiming that the writers made him "straight" again or that his previous arc was merely pointless filler.

While the desire for more queer representation is valid, these arguments rely on a fundamental misunderstanding of what it actually means to be bisexual.

Image: Netflix

This discourse is deeply problematic because it reinforces the "passing trap" — where a bisexual person is assumed to have returned to heterosexuality the moment they enter a relationship with someone of the opposite sex. 

As a bisexual woman myself, who is happily married to a man, I resent the idea that finding love with someone of the opposite gender erases my sexuality completely. It is an exhausting, invisible tax that many of us pay for living what others may perceive to be a more "traditional" looking life. 

Benedict being captivated by Sophie does not retroactively delete his experiences or his capacity for attraction to all genders. Demanding that he constantly be in a state of multi-gender pursuit to prove his identity creates a double standard that we don't apply to straight characters. 

It suggests that bisexuality is only valid when it is being actively performed, rather than being a permanent part of someone's soul.

In a recent interview, Bridgerton's showrunner, Jess Brownell, also addressed the controversy surrounding Benedict's sexuality. 

"It's really important that just because someone might end up in a heterosexual-presenting relationship, that does not negate their queerness," Brownell told Variety. 

"I think Benedict's queerness will always be a piece of his identity. And when we were talking about representation, I don't think there's a lot of representation that I've seen of bisexual men." 

Image: Netflix

Ultimately, this rhetoric that Benedict's sexuality is somehow non-existent during season 4 is harmful because it mirrors the real-world exhaustion bisexual people feel when they are told they are confused or going through a phase.

To suggest that Benedict's story is only queer enough if he ends up with a man is a form of identity policing. 

That's not to say there isn't work to be done when it comes to representation of queer identities on screen. We've certainly got a long way to go – both in diversity of representation and authenticity. But this past year alone, two of the biggest shows in the world — Bridgerton and Heated Rivalry — both featured bisexual men who were vastly different. That's a win for me. 

Benedict Bridgerton is a bisexual man who has found the love of his life in a woman. Both of those things are true at the same time, and acknowledging that is the only way to truly respect one's personal journey with their sexuality. 

Feature Image: Netflix.