Regé-Jean Page Responds To Bridgerton Return Rumours

Regé-Jean Page has shut down reports he is set to reprise his role as the Duke Of Hastings in the third series of Bridgerton.

The actor played one of the romantic leads in the first series of the hit Netflix period drama, but did not return for the second, which was released earlier this year.

Reports recently claimed that he was in talks about reuniting with co-star Phoebe Dynevor, who plays his wife Daphne Bridgerton, in the next set of episodes.

However, those holding out hope of seeing Regé-Jean back in action as Simon Basset will be disappointed as he has said there is no truth to the rumours.

After hanging out with former co-star Jonathan Bailey, who plays Anthony Bridgerton, at Milan Fashion Week, Regé-Jean posted some snaps on Instagram, writing: “The boys are back in town (No, I’m not going back to the show btw – the papers made that one up.)

“But we had the best, and most stylish, catch up I’ve had in a while over some truly excellent Italian coffee and sunshine.”

Last month, it was revealed the love story between Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton) and Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) will take centre stage in Bridgerton’s forthcoming series.

This is a deviation from the order of the original books, as the third instalment in the Bridgerton novel series by Julia Quinn focuses on Benedict Bridgerton’s romance with Sophie Beckett.

The couple will take the lead roles in the show's third season
The couple will take the lead roles in the show’s third season

Explaining the change in an interview with Variety, new showrunner Jess Brownell said: “I really feel like it’s Colin and Penelope’s time. Because we’ve been watching both of these actors on our screens since season one, we’ve already invested in them a little bit. We know who they are as people,” she said.

“I feel like, especially in the last season, there are these moments of tension between them where it’s like, Colin walks up to the line of almost realising that Penelope has feelings for him but doesn’t quite get there.

“Instead of treading water on that dynamic, we wanted to push it into their season. It really felt like the perfect moment to tee it up.”

The third season of Bridgerton will also see one of the Bridgerton family getting a whole new face, as one of the characters has been recast with a new actor.

Both seasons of Bridgerton are now available to watch on Netflix.

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Ricky Gervais Defends ‘Taboo’ Comedy Following Backlash Over ‘Dangerous’ Jokes About Trans People In Netflix Special

Ricky Gervais has attempted to defend his style of comedy after he faced a backlash over jokes he makes about the trans community in his new Netflix special

The After Life creator’s newest show SuperNature began streaming earlier this week, and was quickly condemned over the material in his stand-up set, which also includes jokes about AIDS and female comedians.

SuperNature opens with Gervais telling the audience that his jokes are intended to be “ironic”.

He then goes on to refer to cisgender women as “old-fashioned women… the ones with wombs, those fucking dinosaurs”, before making disparaging comments about trans women.

The set then includes an imagined conversation between a cis woman objecting to sharing a toilet with trans women, including a joke about rape.

Ricky Gervais
Ricky Gervais

Vera Anderson via Getty Images

During an appearance on The One Show, the comic defended making jokes about “taboo subjects”.

“I think that’s what comedy is for, really – to get us through stuff, and I deal in taboo subjects because I want to take the audience to a place it hasn’t been before, even for a split second,” he said.

“Most offence comes from when people mistake the subject of a joke with the actual target.”

He continued: “It starts and they go, what’s he going to say? I tell the joke. Phew, they laugh.

“It’s like a parachute jump – it’s scary, but then you land and it’s all OK.

“I think that’s what comedy is for – getting us over taboo subjects so they’re not scary any more. So I deal with everything. And I think we second guess the audience too much.”

However, US LGBT rights group Glaad labelled the show “dangerous”, “anti-gay” and “anti trans” after its release on Tuesday.

“We watched the Ricky Gervais ‘comedy’ special on Netflix so you don’t have to,” they said. “It’s full of graphic, dangerous, anti-trans rants masquerading as jokes. He also spouts anti-gay rhetoric and spreads inaccurate information about HIV.

“Netflix has a policy that content ‘designed to incite hate or violence’ is not allowed on their platform, but we all know that anti-LGBTQ content does exactly that. While Netflix is home to some groundbreaking LGBTQ shows, it refuses to enforce its own policy in comedy.

“The LGBTQ community and our allies have made it very clear that so-called comedians who spew hate in place of humor, and the media companies who give them a platform, will be held accountable. Meanwhile, there are PLENTY of funny LGBTQ comedians to support.”

Gervais’ remarks have also been heavily criticised on social media, including by many comedians on Twitter.

Many also took the opportunity to repost an old set from British comic James Acaster, lampooning established comedians for taking aim at the trans community.

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Netflix previously came under fire over comments featured in Dave Chappelle’s stand-up special towards the end of last year.

During his show The Closer, he argued that “gender is a fact” and said he was “team TERF”, an acronym for trans-exclutionary radical feminist.

HuffPost UK has contacted representatives for Ricky Gervais and Netflix for comment.

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