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Bridgerton " star Regé-Jean Page will not return on the show's sophomore season. - Fans of Julia Quinn's book series, on which the show is based, weren't shocked by the news.
- Simon rarely shows up in the subsequent novels, which focus on the other Bridgerton siblings.
- Warning: There are spoilers for season one of "Bridgerton" ahead.
For many fans of Julia Quinn's "Bridgerton" book series, the news that Regé-Jean Page will not return for season two of the hit
The first season of showrunner Chris Van Dusen's onscreen adaptation loosely follows Quinn's novel "The Duke and I," which puts eldest daughter Daphne Bridgerton and her husband Simon Basset at the forefront of the story. So naturally, actress Phoebe Dynevor and Page were the biggest stars of the show's massively popular debut.
In the book and the show's first season, we follow Daphne and Simon as they pretend to fall in love to make Daphne more appealing in London's highly-competitive marriage market. And as it so happens, they eventually do fall in love and overcome one of Simon's fears, becoming a father.
But Quinn's readers know better than to assume that future seasons will grant the same amount of airtime to Simon and Daphne, considering each subsequent novel in the series focuses on a different Bridgerton sibling.
In Quinn's second book, "The Viscount Who Loved Me," she zooms in on eldest son Anthony Bridgerton, who embarks on his own romantic journey. Because the bestselling author neatly wrapped up Simon and Daphne's relationship in the previous book, they fall to the wayside as the new protagonist's story dominates her pages.
The duke also rarely comes up in "An Offer From a Gentleman" (Benedit Bridgerton's story); "Romancing Mister Bridgerton" (Colin Bridgerton's story); "To Sir Phillip With Love" (Eloise Bridgerton's story); "When He Was Wicked" (Francesca Bridgerton's story); "It's In His Kiss" (Hyacinth Bridgerton); and "On the Way to the Wedding" (Gregory's story).
Since it doesn't look like the duke will have a major role in future seasons, Page's departure made sense for many people that read the entire "Bridgerton" series.
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However, "Bridgerton" viewers that haven't read Quinn's novels and weren't familiar with the series were stunned by Page's exit from the show.
Because he was the lead along with Dynevor in season one, it seemed difficult to imagine what the show will look like without him.
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Even though Page told Variety that he signed a one-season contract, some fans held onto hope that he'd make a cameo in future seasons of the show.
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It seems like Van Dusen is closely following Quinn's lead, already confirming that season two will focus on Anthony.
The Shonda Rimes-picked showrunner also mentioned that he'd like to "explore stories and romances for every Bridgerton sibling" on the Netflix series during an interview with The Wrap.