Dear Reader, since Bridgerton was released in December, over 82 million households have watched the steamy courtship of Daphne Bridgerton by the Duke of Hastings. Bridgerton has captured the imagination of people around the world with candy colored costumes, a diverse cast, sexy love scenes and romance. Bridgerton’s fans have been captivated by the chemistry between costars Rege-Jean Page and Phoebe Dynevor. Many have been shipping the two in real life. Then recently Rege got papped on the streets of London with his live-in girlfriend, Emily Brown. Phoebe is also setting the record straight in her new interview with You Magazine. Phoebe swears that her relationship with Rege-Jean “the god” Page is simply professional. She also says that she’d “love to say there was more between them” but alas Bridgerbitches, there isn’t. Here are a few excerpts from You:

Are they in love in real life? That’s all anyone wants to know if they’ve seen the Regency romp Bridgerton and the sizzling scenes between Phoebe Dynevor as Daphne and Regé-Jean Page as the rakish Duke of Hastings. ‘I’d love to say there was really something between us,’ Phoebe smiles in a way that suggests she means it. ‘But no, it has always been strictly professional. There was so much pressure on us to get it right that it was all about the work. We have a really professional working relationship. I’m glad for that, actually. It would be very complicated if it went further.’

On-set romances are fine while everything is good, but hellish if you fall out. ‘I always hear about people falling in love with their co-stars. It’s yet to happen to me, but I’m intrigued.’

I’m grateful for the honesty of her answer, because there’s been a huge amount of interest in this beautiful young pair. Rumours suggest there is more to their chemistry than acting, but each has been enigmatic about this until now. ‘People really root for us. We have to say we’re actors, we’re doing a job, there is something to be said for not spoiling the magic… but at a certain point you have to say “no”.’

[from You.co.uk]

A romantic entanglement between the leads would be juicy gossip, but unfortunately we’re not going to get those stories. There is good news for the Bridgerclan in new roles coming for its stars. Many were calling for Rege to be the next Bond. Since the Bond gig has not yet materialized, the Duke, has recently been cast in a leading role alongside Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez and Justice Smith. He will be in the upcoming Dungeon and Dragons movie from Paramount Pictures. Here are a few more details:

Page has closed a deal for a leading role in Paramount’s Dungeons & Dragons feature, joining a cast that includes Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez and Justice Smith.

Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley — the duo behind New Line’s sleeper hit Game Night — are set to direct the feature based on the popular fantasy role-playing game from Wizards of the Coast. Goldstein and Daley also wrote the latest version of the script based on a previous draft by Michael Gilio.

The game of Dungeons & Dragons is known for its war games, treasure hunts, campaigns, camaraderie and reversals of fortune, all in a setting that combines humans, elves, orcs and hundreds of other creatures. The game famously uses multisided dice in gameplay and is overseen by a host known as the Dungeon Master. It is not known whether the movie adaptation will be a straight-up fantasy film, set in the world of the game, or incorporate the storytelling and game-playing aspects.

[From The Hollywood Reporter]

As a fan of both Rege and Phoebe, I am happy for their honesty. I personally am not shipping them IRL but they were fun to watch on my small screen. I am sure Rege’s girlfriend, Emily, is happy that this mess has been cleared up. I wish Rege and Phoebe luck in their love lives and hope to see more of them in other projects. To be fair, I’d also so like to see more of Adjoah Andoh, Goldie Rushevel and Nicola Sturgeon. Now that Simone Ashley has been tapped for the role of Kate for season two’s romantic entanglement with Anthony Bridgerton, I am excitedly anticipating moving on from Daphne and Simon to Kate and Anthony.

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photos credit: Liam Daniel/Netflix and via Instagram