LOS ANGELES • Rege-Jean Web page is not going to return for the second season of record-breaking Regency romance Bridgerton (2020 to current), Netflix mentioned final Friday, prompting howls of despair from followers of the dashing Duke of Hastings.
The wildly fashionable sequence from Gray’s Anatomy (2005 to current) creator Shonda Rhimes places a contemporary twist on the books about an upper-class household in early Nineteenth-century England, together with colour-blind casting.
British-Zimbabwean actor Web page was a breakout star for the primary season, however his character’s storylines largely conclude within the opening quantity of creator Julia Quinn’s unique books, which every observe a special sibling of the Bridgerton household.
“Dearest readers, whereas all eyes flip to Lord Anthony Bridgerton’s quest to discover a Viscountess, we bid adieu to Rege-Jean Web page, who so triumphantly performed the Duke of Hastings,” mentioned a letter on the present’s Twitter account. “We’ll miss Simon’s presence on-screen, however he’ll all the time be part of the Bridgerton household.”
In January, Netflix introduced that Bridgerton had grow to be the streaming platform’s hottest new sequence, watched by greater than 82 million households.
It solid a number of black actors – together with Web page – in high-society roles although slavery was abolished in England solely in 1833 and racism was rife.
“Keep in mind: The Duke is rarely gone,” wrote Rhimes on Instagram. “He is simply ready to be binge-watched once more.”
However some followers have been apoplectic, with one writing: “It is a joke, proper? If not then you definitely simply killed that present.”
“This higher be a belated April Idiot’s joke,” wrote one other.
The primary season adopted Daphne Bridgerton (Phoebe Dynevor) as she made her debut in Regency London, looking for a husband, whereas the second will give attention to her brother, Lord Anthony Bridgerton (Jonathan Bailey).
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
