Sorry, ladies … The dashing Duke Regé-Jean Page, 31, of Bridgerton already has his Duchess

It’s the scene that millions of fans in love with Bridgerton didn’t want to see – especially on Valentine’s Day.

Mail on Sunday could reveal that Regé-Jean Page, who plays the handsome Duke of Hastings in the hit Netflix drama, has a girlfriend in real life.

So far, the 31-year-old actor’s spicy sex scenes with co-star Phoebe Dynevor, who plays Daphne Bridgerton, have received an extra frisson for audiences in love with the actor’s seemingly single status.

But he was spotted last week hugging part-time writer and footballer Emily Brown on a street near the £ 800,000 house they share in North London.

Mail on Sunday could reveal that Regé-Jean Page, who plays the handsome Duke of Hastings in the hit Netflix drama, has a girlfriend in real life. In the photo: Page was spotted hugging part-time writer and footballer Emily Brown

Dressed in a black coat and green scarf to protect himself from the cold, he affectionately held his 30-year-old lover’s face before wrapping an arm around her.

Mrs. Brown, who was isolated in a blue padded jacket and white boots with thick soles by American designer Steve Madden, plays in the FBB Warriors of southwest London and supports the Dulwich Hamlet, whose wool hat she wore for a walk with her boyfriend .

Shortly after the hug, Mr. Page got into a car with a driver. He would have flown to New York for another filming assignment.

Born in London but raised in Zimbabwe, Mr. Page made his first TV appearance in 2004, but only in recent years has he reached the big moment – first in the US miniseries, Roots, then in the American legal drama For The People.

Mrs. Brown, who was isolated in a blue padded jacket and white boots with thick soles by American designer Steve Madden, plays in the FBB Warriors of south-west London and supports the Dulwich Hamlet, whose wool hat she wandered with her boyfriend

However, his interpretation of Simon Basset in Bridgerton drew not only a series of nominations for TV awards, but also legions of fans passed out – and a second series is on the way.

The actor and Brown, who works as a freelance writer with orders from firms like Nike, Converse and Uber, bought the house together in February last year, just a few months after filming for Bridgerton ended.

While the duke leaves little to the imagination during his scenes in the TV room, Mr. Page’s life has been somewhat more shrouded in mystery. In fact, his colorful adolescence as the purple-haired singer of a band called The Super Nashwan Kids, who performed in London pubs, has only recently emerged.

However, his interpretation of Simon Basset in Bridgerton has attracted not only a series of nominations for TV awards, but also legions of passed out fans – and a second series is on the way.

Mrs. Brown certainly seems to share her sense of malice. Asked during an interview with the student newspaper The Tab whether she ever behaved badly while studying at the University of Manchester between 2009 and 2012, she replied: ‘I managed to steal a giant vase, about 75 cm [30in] tall, from a club without anyone noticing, although there were flowers coming out of it. I also decided that I wanted curtains for my room, so I stole a blind. And a guy from the band Faithless gave me a lot of marijuana once, when I was in Ibiza … ‘

Before her relationship with Mr. Page, Ms. Brown dated Jack Badu, a football coach who accompanied her to the Dulwich Hamlet games. Colleagues on the social networking site LinkedIn describe her as “witty” and “great company”. Another wrote about her with envy: ‘Even after a big party, she seems to jump around the world like a rabbit that never heard the word hangover.’

Today, the number of people with Brown’s envy is sure to grow across the UK.