Dionne Warwick Sounds off on Rege-Jean Page’s Bridgerton Departure

Dionne Warwick joined women everywhere as they mourned the loss of Bridgerton‘s Duke of Hastings Regé-Jean Page. The series announced Friday (April 2) that the British-Zimbabwean star would not be returning for Season 2 of the popular Netflix series. The pop icon-turned-Twitter queen shared her disappointment over the news this morning. “No, Regé-jean! You CANNOT leave me like that. I WILL NOT have it!” she wrote, expressing her shock. “I demand a retraction, Bridgerton!!!! I need to hear this news straight from Regé-Jean if this is true,” she said.

Variety broke the news on Friday in an interview with Regé-Jean Page. The series announcement began: “Dear Readers, while all eyes turn to Lord Anthony Bridgerton’s quest to find a Viscountess, we bid adieu to Regé-Jean Page, who so triumphantly played the Duke of Hastings.” It went on to add, “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.”

Warwick followed up with another message, sharing her unhappiness in a voice tweet. “Now tell me you are lying with that letter you just wrote? About my, uh uh, he cannot be leaving. No way! I will not have it. And I want him to know it. I want you to know it. So I want you to make a retraction of what I just read, OK? I’m serious. I need to hear from him, out of his mouth, OK? Thank you,” she said.

While it’s clear the “Heartbreaker” singer would love for him to stay with the Bridgerton cast, podcast host Jill Hopkins responded to the singer reminding her that he needs to flee the nest and prepare for his next major role. “You gotta let him go! He’s got James Bond shoes to fill,” she tweeted. Though, she didn’t seem to take the advice well. She sent back a solid “no.”

Though Page’s exit comes as a shock to many, the actor reveals why it’s not that crazy a decision. “It’s a one-season arc. It’s going to have a beginning, middle, end—give us a year,” Regé-Jean told Variety of his conversations when she signed on board. “[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.”