Apologies to the Ton, But <i>Bridgerton</i>’s Phoebe Dynevor Will Skip this Year’s Debutante Ball

First it was Regé-Jean Page, now it’s his co-star: Actress Phoebe Dynevor is the second Bridgerton lead to announce she will not appear in a subsequent season of the hit Netflix drama. In an interview with Screen Rant during January’s Sundance Film Festival, at which the actress’s film Fair Play premiered, a journalist asked if there were any “exciting dynamics coming up” for her Bridgerton character, Daphne Basset née Bridgerton, in season 3.

“Sadly, not in season 3,” she replied. “Potentially in the future. But season 3, I’m just excited to watch as a viewer.”

It would seem, then, that Daphne’s had her fill of debutante festivities and must respectfully decline any invitations from the ton this year. Her husband, Simon Basset (Page), was himself conspicuously missing from season 2, while Dynevor’s Daphne popped up in only a handful of scenes as she attempted to corral her brother, Anthony (Jonathan Bailey), into a happy marriage.

The fictional couple likely has their hands full with a new baby, and anyway, both Page and Dynevor have film roles to keep their hours occupied: Page is starring in the upcoming Dungeons & Dragons adaptation, while Dynevor is a lead in Fair Play, already scooped up by Netflix for a whopping $20 million.

While Dynevor is clearly leaving the option open for a return to the series that made her a star, Page has insisted that idea is moot on his end. He’s even open to Netflix recasting the Duke of Hastings, slotting another actor into the role he’s (currently) best known for. “They’re free to do as they like,” Page told Variety’s Marc Malkin in July 2022. “Shonda [Rhimes, executive producer of Bridgerton] and I had a wonderful conversation at the end of season 1. We were quite happy with how we stuck the landing on that one.” It would seem Dynevor is—at least temporarily—happy to follow her screen husband out the door.

Culture Writer

Lauren Puckett-Pope is a staff culture writer at ELLE, where she primarily covers film, television and books. She was previously an associate editor at ELLE.