It was her break-out role, quickly becoming a fan favorite. But fans were disappointed to learn why Daphne Bridgerton isn’t in season 3—after all, it was her love story with the Duke of Hastings, Simon Basset (played by Regé-Jean Page), that kickstarted our obsession with the Bridgerton series.
The show Bridgerton, based on Julia Quinn’s bestselling book series of the same name, is set in the competitive world of Regency London’s high society and centers on the Bridgerton family, an upscale English clan that consists of Lady Violet; her four sons, Anthony, Benedict, Colin, and Gregory; and her four daughters, Daphne, Eloise, Francesca, and Hyacinth. The series, which has been described as Gossip Girl meets Pride and Prejudice, is set during social season when debutantes are presented at court.
For those who don’t remember (but why would you be reading this article if you didn’t), Daphne was declared the diamond of the season by Queen Charlotte—the most beautiful and eligible woman to debut onto the marriage market. She found her suitor in the handsome Duke of Hastings in season 1 and their baby was born in season 2 after Page exited the show to work on other projects. So why isn’t Daphne Bridgerton in season 3? The actor’s answer might disappoint you.
Why is Daphne Bridgerton not in season 3?
Daphne Bridgerton isn’t in season 3 because the actor who played her, Phoebe Dyvenor, believes her story is more or less done. In an interview with Variety, she said, “Well I did my two seasons. I’ve done what I wanted to do with that character and she had a great arc. If they ask me back in the future, who knows?”
She gave a similar answer to Screenrant when asked about her character’s future on the show, saying she is “sadly not in Season 3. Potentially in the future. But Season 3, I’m just excited to watch as a viewer.”
Page, who exited after just one season of the show, gave a similar answer as to why he left. “I signed up to do a job and I did the job and then I did some other jobs. That’s it. That’s the story,” he explained in an interview with Vanity Fair in 2023. “I wish it was more glamorous than that.”
He continued: “[After] we finished the story, the temptation would be to roll with the distractions and go, ‘Oh, well, the story went really well so we can kind of change this up and make some other stuff up, I guess.’ That was never what we’d signed up to do.”
The first season of Bridgerton made instant stars out of its cast, especially Page, who went on to host Saturday Night Live and book roles in movies like Dungeons and Dragons and The Gray Man. “It’s not color blind casting because I don’t think it’s helpful to put brown skin in the show without putting brown people in the show,” Page told The Guardian in 2020 about Netflix’s decision to cast Bridgerton with a racially diverse cast.
“This show is a glamorous, ambitious Cinderella fantasy of love and romance – I don’t know why you wouldn’t invite everyone to come and play in it, especially since we’re serving a global audience on Netflix. It takes so little imagination to include people, as opposed to how much thought and effort it takes to keep people out of these stories.”
In April 2021, Netflix and Shondaland announced that Regé-Jean Page, who played the Duke of Hastings (a.k.a. Simon Bassett) in Bridgerton season 1, would not return for Bridgerton season 2. “Dear Readers, 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,” Netflix said in a statement via Lady Whistledown, Bridgerton‘s fictional newspaper.
“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.”
