We’ve combed the internet for clues.
Warning: This post contains spoilers for Bridgerton season 4.
Bridgerton season 5 is officially starting production very soon, and while speculation is rampant on whose love story we’ll get to see next, fans are also speculating about another Bridgerton couple potentially making a comeback.
The internet is ablaze with theories that Regé-Jean Page and Phoebe Dynevor could reprise their roles as Simon Basset, the Duke of Hastings, and Daphne Basset (née Bridgerton), now Duchess of Hastings, sooner rather than later. Page’s character is mentioned in season 4 of the show, and we thought that was already major, but could we be seeing these two returning to the ton? Well, dearest gentle reader, we’ve combed every corner of the internet for clues and gathered all the information below for your reading pleasure.
Why do people think Simon and Daphne could be back for Bridgerton season 5?
Fans have always speculated about Simon and Daphne’s return; however, things have escalated ahead of season 5. One of the main reasons why there’s chatter about the characters potentially making a comeback seems to stem from the fact that Regé-Jean Page has recently followed a bunch of stars from the cast of Bridgerton on his Instagram account, as eagle-eyed fans have noticed.
Some of Page’s new follows include season 4 lead Yerin Ha (Sophie), Hannah Dodd (Francesca), and Masali Baduza (Michaela). Ha and Dodd also follow Page back.
While Page has shown love for Bridgerton in the past, the fact that he’s following cast members who weren’t part of the production when he played the Duke of Hastings is raising alarms, prompting people to theorize he could be coming back to the ton.
Has Bridgerton showrunner Jess Brownell said anything about Simon and Daphne’s return?
Jess Brownell was recently asked about whether she considered bringing Simon and Daphne back for the end of season 4, in particular for John Stirling’s (Victor Alli) funeral, which, aside from them, the rest of the Bridgerton family attended.
Speaking to Variety, Brownell said: “To have them come back to say a line at a funeral and just prove that they were there, it wouldn’t feel right for many reasons. So I think in my mind, the camera doesn’t capture everything. They’re hypothetically there; it’s television.”
In the same interview, Brownell admitted that while the characters did not return for season 4, she hopes they will at some point. “We would love to find a time to bring everyone back at some point in the future,” she said.
Brownell also clarified that she’s “not interested in recasting the characters,” despite Page saying he was open to that back in 2022.
“[Recasting Simon and Daphne] would feel like a disservice to everything Regé and Phoebe set up in season 1, and all the beautiful work they put into those characters,” Brownell said. “We would love to potentially have them back at some point, but I think, logistically, we want to make sure we bring them back when we have something really meaty for them.”
That something really meaty could be in season 5 or perhaps later. Speaking to People, Brownell said she hasn’t “spoken to Regé” about returning, that “the conversations haven’t happened,” but that “the ideas are there.”
Brownell said it’d be “meaningful” to have the characters back as production looks into adapting Hyacinth’s and Gregory’s stories. (ICYMI: seasons 5 and 6, which have already been greenlit, will focus on Eloise’s and Francesca’s stories, though the exact order is yet to be revealed.)
“Daphne and Anthony, and their partners, are such paternal/maternal figures for those younger kids, so I would be very interested in trying to get some of those previous leads back for the later run of the show,” Brownell said.
When did Regé-Jean Page and Phoebe Dynevor exit Bridgerton?
Regé-Jean Page announced his exit from Bridgerton in April 2021. The production announced the news ahead of the beginning of season 2 in a note fashioned after Lady Whistledown’s papers. “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,” the note read.
Despite his formal exit, fans have been clamoring for a cameo from the Duke each season, and Page has either denied the rumors or deflected questions each time.
Speaking about Page’s departure in 2021, Shonda Rhimes, who produces the show under Shondaland, said, “We made a one-season deal with him at the beginning of season one. That was the plan: come and do one season as the Duke. Anything else that was extra and wasn’t really the plan when we started wasn’t the plan when we finished.”
Unlike Page, Phoebe Dynevor did reprise her role as Daphne in season 2 of the show, where she appeared briefly. However, the star did not return for seasons 3 or 4 of the show.
Speaking to Variety in 2023 about not appearing in season 3, which followed the story of Colin (Luke Newton) and Penelope (Nicola Coughlan), Dynevor 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?”
In a 2025 interview with The Direct, Dynevor said she wasn’t asked to be part of season 4. “I mean, they’ve not called me yet,” she said. “And I think they’re shooting season 4 right now. So, I’m still waiting for that call.” So, technically, Dynevor has not formally exited the show, unlike Page, and is open to coming back.
What are Regé-Jean Page and Phoebe Dynevor working on right now?
Production of Bridgerton season 5 is imminent, but both Regé-Jean Page and Phoebe Dynevor have busy schedules.
Page is currently promoting a new rom-com called You, Me & Tuscany, in which he stars alongside Halle Bailey. He is also set to star in a new West End stage adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, which is yet to find a home. Page is also returning to Netflix to star in and executive-produce a new erotic thriller series called Hancock Park, among various other projects in the works.
Phoebe Dynevor’s schedule is just as packed. It was recently announced that she will star as January Andrews in the movie adaptation of Emily Henry’s Beach Read. Another movie she worked on, called Shiver, is also slated to premiere on Netflix later this year. Dynevor will also star opposite Joseph Gordon-Levitt in Pendulum, a movie produced by Darren Aronofsky and directed by Mark Heyman. Remain, a movie she starred in alongside Jake Gyllenhaal, is also expected to premiere in 2027. And those are but some of her reported projects.
Seeing as most have already been shot, there’s a chance the duo could make time for Bridgerton at some point, but whether that’s for season 5 or future ones remains to be seen.
Are Simon and Daphne in the other Bridgerton books?
Simon and Daphne’s love story is the central theme in the first book in the Bridgerton series, The Duke and I, which was adapted into the first season of the hit Netflix show. However, unlike in the show, the characters do appear or are at least mentioned in the later books as well, though their involvement is more secondary.
As Julia Quinn notes on her website, Simon appears in The Viscount Who Loved Me (Anthony’s book) and Romancing Mister Bridgerton (Colin’s book). He is also mentioned in An Offer from a Gentleman (Benedict’s book) and To Sir Phillip, With Love (Eloise’s book).
Daphne, on the other hand, appears in The Viscount Who Loved Me, An Offer from a Gentleman, Romancing Mister Bridgerton, It’s In His Kiss (Hyacinth’s book), and On the Way to the Wedding (Gregory’s book). She is mentioned in To Sir Phillip, With Love and When He Was Wicked (Francesca’s book). Quinn also noted a fun trivia: “Daphne is mentioned over a dozen times in To Sir Phillip, With Love, but doesn’t actually appear.”
The show takes liberties with the relationships between the family members, so we wouldn’t treat them as bibles, especially given that we need to be shown things rather than told when using TV as the medium.
Source: https://www.teenvogue.com/
