Regé-Jean Page Rejected Huge Offer To Guest Star On 'Bridgerton' Season 2: Report

KEY POINTS

Regé-Jean Page was offered the chance to make a guest appearance in three to five episodes of "Bridgerton" Season 2, a report says
Page would have received $50,000 per episode if he had accepted, the report adds
He reportedly declined the offer because he wanted to focus on his film career

"Bridgerton" fans who wished to see Regé-Jean Page make a cameo appearance in Season 2 despite the announcement of his exit will have to keep hoping as reports say the actor rejected a significant pay raise to return for the next installment.

Last week, Netflix and Shondaland confirmed Page's departure from the hit period drama. Prior to this, however, the British actor, 31, was offered $50,000 per episode to reprise his role as Simon Basset, the Duke of Hastings, for three to five episodes of "Bridgerton" Season 2, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Page declined the offer because he wanted to focus on his film career, the outlet reported, citing unnamed sources. However, the outlet noted that a return in future seasons has not been completely ruled out.

The actor has reportedly been flooded with film offers following his breakout role in "Bridgerton," for which he won the 2021 NAACP Image Award for outstanding actor in a drama series last month.

Page previously worked with Shondaland on ABC's two-season legal drama, "For the People." He will next be seen in the Russo brothers' Netflix film "The Gray Man," in which he stars opposite Chris Evans, Ryan Gosling and Ana de Armas. Page will also appear in Paramount's big-budget film "Dungeons and Dragons" with Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez and Justice Smith.

Meanwhile, Page's exit from "Bridgerton" did not come as a surprise to the actor because he had signed a one-year deal for the show. The plan from the start was for Season 2 to focus on Jonathan Bailey's Anthony Bridgerton and Simone Ashley’s Kate Sharma, whose love story is the subject of Julia Quinn's "The Viscount Who Loved Me." Page's character was never planned to be part of the story.

"It’s a one-season arc. It’s going to have a beginning, middle, end – give us a year," Page told Variety about his conversation with the Shondaland producers. "[I thought] ‘That’s interesting,’ because then it felt like a limited series. I get to come in, I get to contribute my bit and then the Bridgerton family rolls on."

Fans were heartbroken after it was revealed last week that he is not returning for the next season of "Bridgerton." Singer Dionne Warwick even made her disapproval known on Twitter, writing, "I demand a retraction," referring to the announcement.