Netflix Preps 'Bridgerton Experience' While Page Teases Season 2 Cameo
Bridgerton Season 2 started filming in the spring of 2021. However, with Netflix focusing on The Witcher Season 2 as its big fantasy release this holiday season, it seems the streamer isn't planning on more romantic adventures of the ton's favorite family until 2022. That's good news for the production, which has experienced multiple delays due to COVID shutting it down twice over the summer, the second time for an extended period. But since August, things have been back on track, and it looks like the series will be ready on time for the next romantic entanglement, this time with Viscount Anthony Bridgerton and recent London arrival Kate Sharma.
But Anthony may not be the only heartthrob heading to London in Season 2. Despite the production announcing that Regé-Jean Page, who plays Season 1's leading man, the Duke of Hastings, would bid the show adieu, the actor recently hinted he might return in a cameo appearance. Though one of the series' significant improvements on the books was extending the romantic foibles of the Bridgerton siblings to create a larger ensemble, the show didn't think through keeping Daphne's main squeeze after their story concluded. The production assumed audiences would be done with him once he was done wooing. But the outcry over his departure proved otherwise.
Sources continue to tell Variety the actor will not return next season. But Page fanned the flames anyway, teasing a possible return in a recent interview with British GQ. Though at first, the actor insisted, "I couldn't possibly tell you!" he wound up hinting that something might be in the cards: "Isn't there something wonderful about being surprised by what you weren't suspecting?" Not that fans need more reason to tune in for another installment of the family soap opera, but the hope of more Page doesn't hurt.
Even though there are no new Bridgerton episodes currently scheduled to arrive in 2021, Netflix is still banking on the show's popularity and not just in creating prequel spinoffs. Like the mega-popular Downton Abbey before it, Bridgerton is getting a traveling exhibit heading to select cities ahead of the second season. The Queen's Ball: A Bridgerton Experience is scheduled to launch in the U.S., visiting Los Angeles, Chicago, and Washington D.C. before the exhibition heads out to cities worldwide. Visitors will be guided by Lady Whistledown, with the ultimate goal of presenting to Her Majesty, the Queen, to be declared this season's Diamond.
According to the press release:
The experience features immersive rooms, including a visit to Madame Delacroix's modiste to get fitted for the occasion, a stop at an underground Regency-era Painting Studio to strike their most regal pose, and a highly-anticipated visit with the Queen to try and win Her Majesty's favor. Throughout the evening, dancers will perform alongside a string quartet playing music inspired by the series, including the classical covers of contemporary songs.
Tickets for The Queen's Ball: A Bridgerton Experience will go on sale in mid-September. Meanwhile, Bridgerton Season 2 is expected to arrive in late 2022, while the as-yet-untitled Georgian-set Bridgerton prequel focused on Queen Charlotte, Lady Violet, and Lady Danbury in their younger years does not yet have a release date. Bridgerton Season 1 is streaming on Netflix.
