All of Bridgerton’s Behind-the-Scenes Scandals & Controversies

Regé-Jean Page’s Departure

After viewers fell in love with Regé-Jean Page in season one of the show, he left the show without appearing in the second. Sure, his role would’ve probably been limited, but fans were nonetheless disappointed. 

“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,” the show announced in April 2021 on Instagram. 

“We’ll miss Simon’s presence onscreen, but he will always be a part of the Bridgerton family,” the statement continued. “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.”

According to Page himself, the role of Duke of Hastings was always supposed to be a one-season deal. “It’s a one-season arc. It’s going to have a beginning, middle, end – give us a year,” Page told Variety of the initial offer. “[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.”

Daphne & the Duke’s Controversial Sex Scene

While many viewers were enamored by the Duke and Daphne’s connection in season one, there is one scene that was heavily criticized by fans. To give it a bit of context, after the leading couple gets married, the two start exploring themselves and have sex (multiple times), but the Duke, who has a huge fear of becoming a father, pulls out every time. Daphne, who knows nothing about sex at first, soon realizes what her husband had been up to, and concocts a plan to undermine him instead. 

One night, while Daphne and the Duke are having sex, Daphne goes on top and seduces him until he’s done. The scene, which was even more violent in the original book, was considered by many as a sex scene, even though the show didn’t exactly treat it as one. 

“It’s clearly intended to spell out the intricacies of informed consent, but none of Simon’s duplicity justifies the way Daphne pulls his secret — and, to be clear, his semen — out of him,” wrote Aja Romano for Vox. “One bad moment of uninformed consent does not justify a moment of nonconsensual sex. And depriving Simon of his consent to both sex and fatherhood, even at the moment of climax, is still rape.”

Ruby Barker’s Mental Health Struggles

After starring as Marina in the first season of Bridgerton, Ruby Barker opened up about suffering two psychotic breaks, one after filming wrapped and one before the show aired. According to her, no one in the cast and crew ever reached out their hand for support. 

“Not a single person from Netflix, not a single person from Shondaland, since I have had two psychotic breaks from that show, have even contacted me or even emailed me to ask if I’m OK or if I would benefit from any sort of aftercare or support,” Barker said in Oxford University’s LOAF Podcast, per Daily Beast. “Nobody.”

“When I went into hospital a week after shooting Bridgerton Season One it was really covered up and kept on the down-low because the show was going to be coming out,” Barker explained. “During filming, I was deteriorating. It was a really tormenting place for me to be because my character was very alienated, very ostracized, on her own under these horrible circumstances.”

Prior to that, Barker shared with followers on Instagram how she was doing in May 2022. “I am in hospital at the minute and I am going to be discharged soon and hopefully get to continue with my life,” Barker wrote at the time. “I was raged-filled, angry, all this intergenerational trauma bundled up inside me. I was carrying the weight of the world on my back and now I am at the point where I have a diagnosis.”

Replacing Francesca

As fans of the show know, every Bridgerton sibling will have their own time in the spotlight when their season comes along. So, of course, while Francesca’s role was minor in seasons one and two, viewers were just as excited to see her character grow. 

But, sadly for the viewers and production, the actress who originally played Francesca, Ruby Stokes, was barely there during season two and had to leave before season three even began filming due to her other show, Lockwood & Co. 

“I love Francesca, but we lost her midway through Season 2,”  EP and showrunner Chris Van Dusen told TVLine. “After exhausting all other options, she unfortunately had to come out due to reasons beyond our control. Perhaps Season 3 will be the charm.”

Shortly after, when filming of season three began, Hannah Dodd was announced as the official replacement. 

Changing the Order of the Books

In seasons one and two, the Netflix series followed the order of Julia Quinn’s novel franchise: First, Daphne, then Anthony. But, as viewers of the show will know, season three diverted from the original order by focusing on Colin (the star of book 4) instead of revealing who Benedict will marry (the plot of book 3). 

“I really feel like it’s Colin and Penelope’s time,” showrunner Jess Brownell told Variety. “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.”

“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,” she continued. “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.” 

Also in the interview, Brownell revealed production isn’t clear on what the rest of the order will look like either. “So, you know, I think Shonda Rhimes has said publicly before that she wants to have eight seasons,” she said. “We hope to get to tell every sibling’s love story and they will always be in each season.”