Bridgerton is here to stay, even if some of its stars are not.
Netflix renewed the romance hit for a second season back in January, and now, before production has even fully begun, the streamer has ordered another two seasons. Assuming the show continues to follow Julia Quinn's series of romance novels, that means we'll see Anthony, Benedict and Colin—if not more of the Bridgerton siblings—all married off in the next few years.
We've already heard a bit about what's in store for Anthony (Jonathan Bailey) and the two sisters who are about to turn his life upside down, but what of Benedict (Luke Thompson) and Colin (Luke Newton)? And how might things onscreen differ from what's in the books? There's truly so much to look forward to, whether you're a fan of the books or not.
While we can all assume that some of the books will remain intact, there are also a lot of reasons to believe many things will change. We've already gotten more glimpses at the rest of the Bridgerton family on the show than we do in the first book, and then there's one major piece of information that really makes it clear some things are going to be different: Lady Whistledown.
In the books, Penelope (Nicola Coughlan) isn't unmasked as the trouble-causing gossip queen until the fourth book, when her crush on Colin is finally dealt with. That immediately opens up a whole host of story possibilities that didn't exist in the second book, and promises a whole lot for Coughlan to do.
Unfortunately, all of this will be happening without season one breakout star Regé-Jean Page, who will not be appearing in the second season. Celebrities and non-celebrities alike were outraged, but the move is not all that surprising. He's already filming a new movie for Netflix, and Simon and Daphne (Phoebe Dynevor) already got their happy ending at the end of season one.
Page told Variety that he only signed a one-season contract and was attracted to the show because it felt like a "limited series" and that the magic of the romance genre is that "the audience knows the arc completes." "They come in knowing that," he said. "So you can tie people in emotional knots because they have that reassurance that we're going to come out and we're going to have the marriage and the baby."
The Hollywood Reporter says he was offered $50,000 per episode to make further appearances, but he declined. Executive producer Shonda Rhimes told Vanity Fair she was surprised by the internet uproar at his departure.
"Like, we didn't kill him, he's still alive!" she joked, probably flashing back to many years of Grey's Anatomy deaths. "I don't know that I expected this much of an explosion, given that every book is a different romance. What would be the ever-after of this combo? I mean, really: What would Regé-Jean do, you know what I mean? We gave them their happily ever after!"
Now, between one and seven other couples are on their way to the spotlight, so hopefully, we won't miss him for too much longer. Scroll down for everything we know about the future of Bridgerton so far!
The first season of Bridgerton is currently streaming on Netflix.