Daphne Bridgerton has left the ’Ton.
“Bridgerton” star Phoebe Dynevor has announced that she will not return for Season 3 of the popular Netflix series.
“Sadly not in season 3. Potentially in the future. But Season 3, I’m just excited to watch as a viewer,” the Brit recently told Screen Rant.
“Well, I did my two seasons,” the 27-year-old said in a separate interview with Variety published on Monday.
“I’ve done what I wanted to do with that character and she had a great arc,” she explained to Variety. “If they ask me back in the future, who knows?”
While her character was the main focus of the first season, which aired in 2020, her role was dwindled down in last year’s Season 2.
Dynevor isn’t the first star of the Shonda Rhimes-produced series to depart once their debut season concluded.
Regé-Jean Page — also known as the most handsome man in the world, according to science — left the show after playing the Duke of Hastings Simon Basset in the soapy drama’s inaugural season.
Season 3 will center on the love story between Colin Bridgerton — played by Luke Newton — and Nicola Coughlan’s Penelope Featherington.
The historic romance series is based on books penned by Julia Quinn. While the author’s third installment is supposed to follow the relationship of middle brother Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson), the show will be skipping straight to Colin and Penelope’s story before Benedict’s.
Showrunner Jess Brownwell explained why it’s “Colin and Penelope’s time” in the forthcoming season.
“Because we’ve been watching both of these actors on our screens since Season 1, we’ve already invested in them a little bit. We know who they are as people,” Brownwell told Variety in May 2022.
“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 realizing 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,” she noted.
Coughlan revealed the plot news last spring during an appearance at Netflix’s FYSee panel.
“Like Lady Whistledown, I have been keeping a secret for quite some time, and I can confirm to you all that Season 3 is Colin and Penelope’s love story,” the Irish actress said. “I have kept that secret since two weeks into Season 2. This is the first time I am saying it here.”
