Bridgerton: Regé-Jean Page’s Duke will not be featured in Season 2

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Quick! Someone get the word to Lady Whistledown that Regé-Jean Page's Simon Basset, the Duke of Hastings, won't be returning for Bridgerton Season 2. What manner of scandal is this? Begin the whisper campaign! Fetch me a town crier! Send a raven! Everyone alive or dying in Mayfield, England must know!

Oh my heavens. It turns out that the shocking news of the Regé-Jean Page's exclusion was delivered by Lady Whistledown herself:

“While all eyes turn to Lord Anthony Bridgerton’s quest to find a Viscountess, we bid adieu to Regé-Jean Page, who so triumphantly played the Duke of Hastings,” Lady Whistledown wrote. “We’ll miss Simon’s presence onscreen, but he will always be a part of the Bridgerton family. 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.”

According to sources close to the Netflix drama, Page was only contracted for one season, and the plan was always for him to only contribute to one season. In other words, there are no shenanigans to be had here, which is bound to upset Bridgerton gossip hounds. Still, his character will be referenced in future episodes though he won't appear on the screen. Meanwhile, Phoebe Dynevor (Daphne Bridgerton), who was at the center of the first season, will remain a part of the show.

The second season will adapt the second Bridgerton novel, The Viscount Who Loved Me, and turn the attention to Anthony Bridgerton's pursuit of a suitable marriage. "We left him at the end of the first season at a bit of a crossroads, so I’m looking forward to jumping in and discovering how he fares on the marriage market," said Bridgerton creator and showrunner Chris Van Dusen. Production on the second season is expected to begin in London this spring.

"We have a bunch of new characters we are going to be introducing," Chris Van Dusen said when the series was renewed in January. "Anthony is going to have a love interest next season, and I think it’s going to be as sweeping and moving and as beautiful as viewers of the first season have come to expect from the show."

The popularity of Bridgerton has become so vast that many have called for Regé-Jean Page to become the next James Bond. While the jury is still out on Page playing the world's most famous super spy, the actor continues to pick up primo acting gigs. To begin, he's set to star in the Russo Brothers' The Gray Man. He joins Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Ryan Gosling, Jessica Henwick, and Billy Bob Thornton as a part of the cast. Regé-Jean Page has also been cast in Dungeons & Dragons. He'll be joining Chris Pine (Wonder Woman 1984), Michelle Rodriguez (Resident Evil, Fast & Furious 9), and Justice Smith (Jurassic World: Dominion, All the Bright Places) in the action-adventure epic, which is based on Hasbro’s popular game franchise from Wizards of the Coast. Johnathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley will direct and write the script, which is based on a draft by Michael Gilio.