Bridgerton & Heated Rivalry Fans Are Stuck At The Cottage

Picture this: Your dreamy love interest whisks you away to his secluded country home that he sweetly refers to as a “cottage” — but once you get there, you realize it’s kind of huge. Away from the hustle and bustle, you enjoy some quality time by the lake and luxuriate in each other’s company. By the time you leave, you’ve reached new levels of closeness in your relationship.

By now, you’re probably imagining a hockey player named Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) or a Regency rake named Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson). Or both, if you’re one of the countless romance lovers who are equally swept up in Heated Rivalry and Bridgerton this winter.

I’m Coming To The Cottage

To recap, Ilya (Connor Storrie) visits Shane’s lakefront cottage in the first season finale of Heated Rivalry. “Wow,” he tells his erstwhile hockey foe-turned-partner, admiring the gorgeous property. “Your real estate fetish really paid off, huh?”

“I didn’t buy this,” Shane says. “I had it built.”

The getaway proves to be so impactful for the pair — they chart their future in between steamy moments across the abode — that Ilya’s declaration, “I’m coming to the cottage” has become one of the most beloved IYKYK lines from the show.

While Shane and Ilya are deep into a decade-long relationship by the time of their cottage escape, Benedict and Sophie of Bridgerton are just getting to know each other. Benedict rescues the maid — unbeknownst to him, the masked “Lady in Silver” he danced with months earlier — from a dangerous situation at a house party. He’s injured in the process, so the pair stays at his country abode while he recovers.

Benedict playfully calls it “My Cottage,” but as Sophie remarks upon arrival, “‘Cottage’ feels somewhat misleading.”

Removed from Mayfair’s gossiping ton, the pair bond despite their disparate social stations, and it culminates in a passionate kiss by the lake after Sophie spies Benedict swimming naked.

Fandoms United

Fans on social media had fun connecting the cottages of the two very buzzy romances. One viewer on X (formerly Twitter) joked: “HR cottage son or Bridgerton cottage daughter.”

“First I was stuck at the Heated Rivalry cottage and now I’m stuck at the Bridgerton cottage,” said another. Similarly, one fan quipped: “From being stuck in Hollander’s cottage to the Bridgerton’s… I can’t escape that damn cottage, can I…”

Several fans poked fun at both Benedict and Shane’s tendency to undersell their lavish homes, and over on TikTok, one fan connected both properties with Sabrina Carpenter’s cheeky “House Tour.”

In both cases, the cottage serves as a place where the couples inside can be fully themselves. As Bridgerton showrunner Jess Brownell recently told Deadline, “No one’s around. Sophie is cosplaying as an upper-class lady. Benedict is hanging out with the Crabtrees and the servants in a way he might not normally in the city, and that’s a lovely place to live in.”