It’s not a good Friday for many Bridgerton fans. It was confirmed Regé-Jean Page, the breakout star of Netflix’s smash hit, will not return for Season 2. The British-Zimbabwean actor melted hearts as Simon Basset, the Duke of Hastings. Even Kim Kardashian is having a hard time with the news.
Phoebe Dynevor, who portrays Page’s onscreen love interest, Daphne Bridgerton, will reprise her role. It was previously announced the second season will focus around Daphne’s bother, Lord Anthony Bridgerton, in his quest to find love, and readers of the Julia Quinn novels (on which the series is based) shouldn’t be surprised by the news. But it’s still devastating to many Bridgerton viewers as social media lit up.
“Wait!!! WHAT????” Kardashian wrote.
Kim Kardashian’s reaction to Bridgerton announcing that Regé-Jean Page isn’t returning to Bridgerton is, well, all of us. pic.twitter.com/SsUJrX0M3t
— Gibson Johns (@gibsonoma) April 2, 2021
“I guess I’m done watching Bridgerton,” one person wrote on Twitter.
“This has to be april fools… right?” added another user.
“Wait but what’s the point of watching the show then?” tweeted someone else, echoing hundreds of other comments.
But Nicola Coughlan, who plays Penelope Featherington, assured fans the second season will not disappoint.
Season One was just the tip of the Bridgerton iceberg, just you wait to see what we have in store…
And you can trust me, I would know after all pic.twitter.com/VdtX8JE9MC
— Nicola Coughlan (@nicolacoughlan) April 2, 2021
Netflix and Shondaland fittingly shared the news about Page via Lady Whistledown.
“We’ll miss Simon’s presence onscreen, but he will always be a part of the Bridgerton family,” the message read. “Daphne will remain a devoted wife and sister, helping her brother navigate the upcoming social season and what it has to offer – more intrigue and romance than my readers may be able to bear.”
Page said it was “an honor to be a member of the family.”
Pleasure and a privilege! An honour to be a member of the family – on and off screen, cast, crew and incredible fans – the love is real and will just keep growing ❤️💫 https://t.co/YBk4RvKNpx
— Regé-Jean Page (@regejean) April 2, 2021
Page told Variety the role’s short-term commitment was part of its allure.
“It’s a one-season arc. It’s going to have a beginning, middle, end — give us a year,” Page recalled of early conversations with Shondaland producers. “[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.”
Shonda Rhimes’s Bridgerton broke Netflix viewership records, becoming the streaming giant’s biggest series ever.