Shonda Rhimes Revealed Whether Regé-Jean Page Will Return To Bridgerton
She invited him to return after fans freaked out about his departure announcement.
Bridgerton Season 2 won’t be out until sometime in 2022, but Netflix is already banking on more from creator Shonda Rhimes. The woman behind Grey’s Anatomy, How To Get Away With Murder, and other hits has multiple titles heading to Netflix. But in a new interview with Variety, Rhimes’ biggest update was about Bridgerton, specifically fan-favorite character, the Duke of Hastings. In the interview, Shonda Rhimes said Regé-Jean Page won’t return to Bridgerton in Season 2, nor does she expect him to come back ever.
As most fans now know, the novel series that Bridgerton is based on dedicates one book to each couple. Once each book is done, that couple moves out of the spotlight. Those who have read the Bridgerton books know Simon and Daphne go off and have a happily ever after after after the first book. Neither of them appears much, if at all, in the following seven books. There’s the occasional cameo by Daphne where she drops a pearl of wisdom to the lovesick sibling du jour before returning to her estate and her babies, but that’s about it.
Since Simon’s story had already been told, Rhimes said she wasn’t prepared for the massive fan reaction to Page’s departure from the series after Season 1. “My assumption of what people knew of romance novels was … I overestimated a great deal,” Rhimes told Variety.
Since Bridgerton Season 1 ended, Page’s dance card has been filling up with new suitors. His forthcoming projects range from the upcoming Dungeons & Dragons film to starring as Simon Templar in the reboot of The Saint. Rhimes admitted that the uproar following Page’s departure from Bridgerton led the team to invite the actor to return.
“Rightfully, he said, ‘I signed up to do this one lovely story, this closed-ended storyline. I’m good!’” Rhimes told Variety. “And I don’t blame him for that. I think that he was really smart to leave the perfection as the perfection.”
But is there a possibility he’ll come back sometime later down the line? “I don’t think so!” Rhimes said. “And here’s why: He’s an enormous star now ... the idea that we would write Regé to stand around in the background doesn’t make any sense at all to me. ‘What would he do?’ is what I like to say.”
It seems Bridgerton Season 2 will have to continue being perfect without its perfect Duke.
Bridgerton Season 1 is streaming on Netflix. Season 2 is confirmed to arrive in 2022.
