Nicola Couglan Addresses 'Intense' Attention on Relationship with Boyfriend Jake Dunn

Nicola Coughlan is addressing the “intense” level of attention she and boyfriend Jake Dunn have faced.

If you didn’t know, the 38-year-old Bridgerton actress and the 25-year-old Renegade Nell actor were first romantically linked in August 2024 and made their red carpet debut at the 2025 BAFTA Television & Craft Awards nominees party this past April.

In a new interview, Nicola opened about all of the attention on her private life and on her relationship with Jake.

Keep reading to find out more…“Imagine if you had an evening at the pub and then you walked around, talking, having a lovely time, and a few days later, you see pictures of that,” Nicola told The Guardian. “The violation is immense.”

“People go, ‘Oh, there’s so-and-so from TV.’ They forget you’re a person,” she continued. “That level of attention is hugely intense, and I don’t know how well that suits me.”

The Derry Girls actress went on, “The intensity gave me horrific anxiety. I was like, ‘I really want to go away.’ … Work is one world and my private life is another. When one started collapsing into the other, I thought, ‘Oh my God, what have I done?’”