We all get excited about the projects, the castings and the career milestones, and every time there's a big spotlight on her, she finds a way to use it to support causes she believes in and encourage people to help others.

It's one of the many reasons I'm such a fan of hers. The talent is obvious, but so is her kindness.

I agree.

And trust me, people only see a fraction of what gets sent in.

I'm happy to engage with different opinions and i'm still trying to discern which anons are coming from a genuine place and which ones are just using Nicola-related news as a vehicle for something else. Some are pretty easy to spot. Others are a little more subtle and require a second read.

People are excited because they like Nicola, they like the show, and they think it's great casting.... We all do!

And that's kind of the point. Nicola's audience is much bigger than any one fandom bubble or show.

It's pretty incredible!

Not just the number of projects, but how different they all are. She's building such a varied career.

And yes, there's more to come.

Maybe it's because I'm still sitting here impatiently waiting for any news about Grace O'Malley. At this point I just need to know who's involved so I can stop theorizing and put myself out of my misery!

I can't wait to find out who she's playing and how she fits into the mystery. 🕵️‍♀️

One thing I'll say is that the reaction to Nicola joining OMITB has been overwhelmingly positive from what I've seen.

Fans of the show are excited. Nicola fans are excited. Casual viewers are excited. People are excited about the cast. People are excited about the possibilities for her character. That's what I'm choosing to focus on

At the end of the day, Nicola booked a fantastic project with an incredible cast and that's a reason to celebrate. Sometimes I think we spend too much time talking about the handful of negative voices and not enough time appreciating how much genuine excitement and goodwill there is around her.

I appreciate you taking the time to explain where you're coming from.

Every community has people who create unnecessary drama, and I understand why that would be frustrating, especially when it overshadows good news for Nicola.

I guess where I differ is that I don't see those people as representative of the fandom as a whole. When I look around, I still see plenty of fans who are excited about Nicola's work, support her projects and genuinely enjoy being here.

I also agree that we shouldn't ignore problems when they exist. But I don't think the solution is to let the loudest and most negative people define the entire community either.

Her fandom is bigger than those of us mainly post about her. She is wide appeal.

I think this announcement was a good reminder that Nicola's audience is much bigger than any one fandom space.

The excitement is coming from all over the place. That's what makes me happy.

And the Simone fans being excited about them working together again has been really sweet to see too.

Apart from the odd account that’s just there for drama, I’ve only had good experiences with those who are genuine fans of Nicola. I find especially that those who discovered Nic from Derry Girls are the most chill and least interested in drama.

Initially the toxicity from Polin fans towards Nicola (as well as the never ending drama with other Bridgerton fans) turned me off the fandom as a whole for a long time. I think the issue has been Polin fans being willing to share their fandom spaces with toxic shippers. It was after blocking many of those accounts that I found the positive Polin accounts that are genuinely supportive towards Nicola and who love her for more than Penelope or a ship.

There are sometimes frustrations with Nic fans when Nicola or her loved ones are being hated on by supposed fans, but it’s not the focus. Majority of the content is on celebrating Nic’s projects and her.

That's been mostly my experience too.

Apart from a handful of "concerned" people already trying to calculate exactly how many minutes she'll be on screen, everyone I've seen is just excited...

The cast is incredible, the show is great, and we already know this is a guest role.

We are happy because Nicola keeps doing what she's always done: taking on interesting projects, working with talented people, trying new things and building connections across the industry.

I’m so excited that she will be in a show along side some acting legends!

It's a pattern at this point.

I'm absolutely thrilled for her. Excited for Nicola, excited for the cast, excited to see what role she'll be playing and excited to watch her in a completely new project.

And can you blame me? Us? She's joining a fantastic show alongside some incredible actors.

That's a fair point. Some accounts didn't disappear because they stopped supporting Nicola. They were targeted, harassed, mass reported by jealous angry haters.

Online fandom spaces are only one small part of Nicola's actual fanbase.

There are plenty of people who like Nicola, support her work, watch her projects and never get involved in fandom politics at all.

I also think a loud group can sometimes create the illusion that they represent everyone when they really don't.

I completely agree with this.

At some point I realized that my fandom experience is largely my responsibility. A lot of fandom spaces are what you make of them.

Life is stressful enough without voluntarily reading takes that annoy me (The mute and block buttons are there for a reason).

My feed is mostly Nicola news, project updates, people celebrating her work and fans being excited about what she's doing next.

The drama never completely disappears, but you don't have to give it front-row seats in your fandom experience.

For what I've seen Nicola's subreddit it's generally been focused on Nicola's work, projects and news.

Experiences can vary a lot depending on where you spend your time online. Two people can have completely different experiences of the same fandom.

And I do think sometimes people take a bad experience with one person or one group and then project that onto an entire fandom space.

That's pretty much how I see it too.

I don't want to dismiss anyone's experience because if someone's corner of fandom has become negative, I completely understand why they'd feel frustrated.

But I do think a lot depends on who you're following and where you're spending your time online. My experience has been very different. I see plenty of active Nicola fans who are excited about her projects, celebrate her successes and are interested in her as an actor rather than just one role, one ship or one moment in her career.

And I think that's a sign of a healthy fandom. Nicola's career keeps growing, she's attracting new audiences through different projects, and people are sticking around because they enjoy her work.

I do understand what you're saying, and I don't doubt that some people have stepped away because they're tired of drama. That's happened in pretty much every fandom I've ever been part of.

I just don't know if I agree that it means the Nicola fandom itself is dying.

Honestly, I think a lot depends on what corner of the internet you're in and who you're following. My experience has been pretty different. Most of the Nicola fans I interact with are active, excited about her projects and having a great time.

That's not to say toxic people don't exist, they absolutely do. But I've found that sometimes a good timeline cleanse makes a bigger difference than people realize.

And I also don't think one subreddit, one platform or one fandom space can really measure Nicola's fanbase as a whole. Every new project seems to bring in new people, which feels pretty healthy to me.

She filmed 2 x hour long episodes of ‘I am Helen’ in 3-weeks. OMITB is a large ensemble cast so she possibly only filmed for 2-4 weeks.