The actor who played the Duke of Hastings, Regé-Jean Page, is not returning for the second season of Bridgerton. The news was announced by series creator and executive producer Chris Van Dusen in a statement to Deadline.
“It has been an absolute pleasure and a privilege to work with this incredibly talented team of people on Bridgerton,” Van Dusen said. “We can’t wait to bring even more dazzle, romance, and drama to viewers in Season 2.”
Page also released a statement about his departure from the show. “It was an honor to be a part of Bridgerton,” he said. “I am so grateful to have worked with such an incredible cast and crew . I will miss everyone immensely.”
The show’s producers have not yet announced who will be replacing Page in the role of the Duke of Hastings. Season 2 of Bridgerton is set to air in early 2022. Why Is Regé-Jean Page Not Returning To Bridgerton Season 2.
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Why did Regé-Jean Page leave Bridgerton?
He was well aware that the series would only last for a limited time. According to Variety, Regé-Jean Page always knew his part in Bridgerton would be brief.
“It’s a one-season arc. It’s going to have a beginning, middle, end-give us a year,” he told the publication.
“[I thought], ‘that’s interesting,’ because then it felt like a limited series. I get to come in, I get to contribute my bit and then the Bridgerton family rolls on,” he continued.
He was never expected to return for a second season. It was rumored last year that Regé-Jean Page would not appear in the second season of Bridalberg, anyway. According to sources, the production reached out to Page’s camp in January or February with a proposal to return -after he and the show gained popularity-even though plans for season 2 never included his character, Simon.
According to the speculations, Netflix offered Rehana $2 million to write a script for an adaptation of The Gray Man but she allegedly rejected the offer so that he could focus on other projects, having just completed production on The Gray Man and was about to begin filming for Dungeons & Dragons.
Regé-Jean Page Leaves The Show
The executive producer of ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy, Shonda Rhimes, later told Vanity Fair that the page “only signed a contract for the first season,” according to Page Six. According to Netflix, Rhimes, and Page, however, there were no creative differences between them.
On April 13th, Rhimes jested about Page’s departure in an interview with Vanity Fair, saying: “We didn’t even kill him!” She also praised Regé-Jean’s performance on the show as a result of the fan boycotts:
“Regé-Jean is a wonderful actor who has given us so much this season. [Regé-Jean] is a powerful and amazing actor, which means we did our job – every season, our job is to find the best people and construct this incredible, world-changing relationship.”
The show’s creator also stated that the second season would be more focused on Page’s character, and not on her. I don’t think I expected this much of a reaction given that every book in the Bridgerton series is a different romance.
“What would be the ever-after of this combo? I mean, really: What would Regé-Jean do, you know what I mean? We gave them their happily ever after! And now we have this next couple coming.”
Read Also: Netflix’s ‘The Sandman’: Everything We Know So Far
Season 2 of Bridgerton is hitting Netflix on 25th March.
Simon & Daphne is a fantasy-romantic comedy Japanese manga series written by Midori Sugiuchi. The series follows Simon and Daphne, two siblings who meet each other for the first time when they are both adults.
The seasons follow them as they fall in love for the first time, get married, divorce, remarry, and so on. There was no question that their love saga would be told in one season.
