Luke Newton transformed his lifestyle as he took a central role in 'Bridgerton'

Luke told People magazine's Sexiest Man Alive issue: "It was part of the preparation going into season three that I really wanted to feel like there was a difference, not only emotionally and in this experience that he'd had, but also physically.

"It kind of completely changed my lifestyle. And there were also parallels in that I turned 30 on set while we were shooting, so it felt like we were kind of going through a similar journey."

Newton's alter ego had prominent sideburns in the latest series and he admits that it caused him problems in everyday life despite the meticulous effort he had put in to grow them correctly.

He said: "We were very, very proud of those. It took us hours to really work those out, work out the exact shape, the line that we wanted.

"For me, I guess I took inspiration from Jonathan Bailey from the previous season, how he had those strong sideburns that felt very sort of well shaped and groomed, and I really wanted that. I don't know, it was just fun to explore.

"The only thing is in normal life, it didn't really go with anything, like if I'm in the coffee shop on a Sunday morning, you can kind of spot a Bridgerton from a mile away if you see those sideys!"

Luke admits that getting into costume has a transformative effect when working on the show.

He explained: "I think I had a moment going into the new season where I was like, 'It's been a while now. How am I going to get back into this?' But I kind of just trusted the process of knowing as soon as I put my first costume on that it would change everything. And it does every time, no matter how many sort of rehearsals or script reads that we do. It really does just change when you get into those costumes."