Yes, I'm devastated he’s leaving! But it’s a big world, full of spoons to lick.
If You Love Regé-Jean Page, Let Him Go (From Bridgerton)
The birds don’t sing, the opera house is dark, carriage wheels don’t merrily splash mud puddles on the petticoats of nobles—Regé-Jean Page, star of Bridgerton and star of many a personal fantasy, will not return for the hit show’s second season.
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The news has provoked an outcry. Bridgerton was the most popular show on Netflix in 83 countries at one point this year. Now, we are a United Nations of horny sufferers, millions left standing alone, as if at a ball without a suitor. Who will support our dreams to get off to orchestral Taylor Swift covers if not Simon Basset, Duke of Hastings? Naturally, we’re emotional. “**Calls therapist to discuss underlying anger**” commented one Glamour reader on our Instagram post about the news.
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And yet, my sweet sisterhood of Regé-Jean Page fans (“sisterhood” here being a gender-neutral term) I come to you in a mood of supplication. I beg of you now, in this hour of sexual sorrow: If you love Regé-Jean, let him go. The man is a star, and if he thinks the best thing for him is to leave the Ton, we have to trust that he knows what he's doing. He is not abandoning the show, he is not insulting fans, he's trying to make his dreams come true!
Page will next be seen in a Netflix spy movie with Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans, and I think most of us will probably make time in our calendars for 90 or 100 viewings. He's going to be in a live-action movie adaptation of the game Dungeons and Dragons, which—yes, I'm laughing at that idea now, but just wait until we're all sharing steamy D&D gifs. And of course, there are rumors that he could be the next James Bond. Page was destined for big screens, small screens, lock screens, and making people screen their eyes so as not to be blinded. His stubble must be given the 3-D IMAX experience. His abdomen must be allowed to roam free.
Let’s talk about the hard evidence that his Bridgerton departure might be a beautiful thing.
If Adam Brody had not left Gilmore Girls, we would never have met Seth Cohen. If Keegan Michael Key and Jordan Peele had not made the hard decision to let Key & Peele end, the movie Get Out might never have been made. If Meghan Markle had not left Suits, the British Empire might still be intact.
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But in all seriousness, if we love a breakout star, especially a young, talented person of color, we should cheer for them when they make moves to get more money and opportunities. When Sandra Oh left Grey’s Anatomy, it almost felt like we were losing a friend in Cristina Yang. But Oh freed herself up to take on a lead role in Killing Eve and ended up winning awards and shattering records—she got her second Golden Globe, hosted Saturday Night Live, and became the first Asian woman to host the Golden Globes. A true Regé-Jean fan should not rest until he is, as we call in the biz, Ashton Kutcher Level Famous: so rich he doesn’t even need to act if he doesn’t feel like it.
A king!
Comic ReliefTake heart, RJP lovers! Yes, it would have been nice to see Lord Simon and Tiny Bangs McGee (said with love, Phoebe Dynevor) as parents. But leaving Bridgerton will allow Page to play characters who have sex against other elaborate backdrops. Don’t you want to see him bang in space? Or as a wizard? What about as a high-strung male ballet dancer who’s forced to go undercover to solve crimes? (Just an idea.) And remember, as we bid farewell to the best man to ever wear breaches on a streaming site; it’s not goodbye, it’s just see you soon. Many thought we would never see Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni) back on Law & Order.
And yet sometimes, dear reader, fate is on our side.
Jenny Singer is a staff writer for Glamour. You can follow her on Twitter.
This story originally appeared on: Glamour - Author:Jenny Singer
