Paul McCartney played the 50th anniversary of Glastonbury, ABBA reunited for a (hologram) comeback tour and the new Doctor Who was revealed to be Ncuti Gatwa. That means there’s still just one long-standing pop culture query hanging in the air: who is going to be the next James Bond?

Well, all attention is turning back to Bridgerton beau Regé-Jean Page, with a tip-off gossip site anecdotally suggesting that it’s a done deal.

According to Deux Moi, an Instagram celeb rumours account (think Gossip Girl for Gen Z) scurrilous stories from their sources (that can neither be confirmed or denied, and should possibly be taken with several buckets of salt) indicate that Page already knows he’s 007, but he’s worried about keeping it schtum, which is why he didn't engage in much press on The Grey Man premiere tour.

A tip off to Deux Moi read: “Rege-Jean Page skipping the red carpet interviews… does he really think he’s that famous?”, to which the account replied: “I’ve heard from a source close to The Grey Man team that he is avoiding press because of the Bond rumours because he’s most likely got the role.”

Another submission added: “+1 this. This was part of the reason he left Bridgerton - that when they were talking about “other projects” clashing he was in talks re: Bond.” Insert chin-stroking emoji here.

If you remember, there was widespread devastation in April 2021 when Page announced he would not be returning for the second series of the Regency-era romp. At the time, there were reports that Page had been “inundated with offers for other interesting and challenging leading roles” and also that there were “creative differences” with showrunner Shonda Rhimes and her team, which both parties later denied.

Page later told Variety that he made the decision to leave as he only ever saw himself as a one-season wonder: “It's a one-season arc. It's going to have a beginning, middle, end—give us a year…It felt like a limited series. I get to come in, I get to contribute my bit and then the Bridgerton family rolls on.”

With the benefit of hindsight though, could that be because a certain secret service agent role came a-calling?

Back in December 2021 when he was confident enough he wasn’t going to spill any secrets, he told The Mirror: “Ah, the B word. I think if you are British and do anything of note, that other people take notice of, then people will start talking about that. That's fairly normal and I'm flattered to be in the category of Brits that people have noticed. The concept of having plans in this moment in history is mildly hilarious. I've given up making them.” Well swerved, sir.

Meanwhile, Bond producer Barbara Broccoli has suggested that no decisions have been made on casting yet, telling the Daily Mail: “I'd say that filming is at least two years away. It's a reinvention of Bond.”