Fans of Nicola Coughlan are furious at paparazzi for crashing the Bridgerton star’s “cozy night out” with her rumored boyfriend, Jake Dunn.
On Wednesday (October 23), anonymous celebrity gossip blog DeuxMoi posted pictures of the 37-year-old holding hands with the 24-year-old actor as they walked along a residential street. The photos showed Coughlan and Dunn with their arms wrapped around one another, attempting to avoid eye contact with the cameras as they continued with their night.
“DEUXMOI EXCLUSIVE… Nicola Coughlan and actor Jake Dunn enjoyed a cozy night out in London last night. Splash,” the Instagram caption read.
Immediately, fans flocked to the comments section to shame the photographers for infringing on their privacy and interrupting their date.
“These photos feel like a massive invasion of privacy,” one Instagram user wrote.
Another fan agreed: “These photos are so creepy, it’s obviously a suburban street not even the high street… Did they follow them home?! Such an invasion of privacy!”
“Seeing these photos that were taken at different angles, you could definitely know/understand that they were deliberately followed,” one woman pointed out. “Another, the progression of the posted images does not show how Jake and Nicola both realized they were being followed/papped which led Jake removing his hat and giving it to Nicola.”
Someone else added: “She looks so upset. I’m glad she had one of her friends there to protect her. Hope you feel happy with yourself for invading someone’s privacy.”
Coughlan has been very vocal about wanting to protect her privacy, especially when it comes to commentary about her body. The Derry Girls star expressed her resentment toward the media’s focus on her body image in a recent interview with Time, even when the comments are meant to be positive.
“I don’t take it as nice. Making it about how I look is reductive and boring,” she said. “What if I was suddenly going to play a ballerina and lose a s*** ton of weight, are you not going to like me anymore? That’s insane and so insulting.”
The actor admitted she hates how her artistry sometimes takes a back seat to her appearance, adding: “I worked my a** off for [Bridgerton]. I barely saw my family and friends, and people were just going, ‘But your body...’”
