Welsh Hollywood star Taron Egerton has suddenly quit his role in a West End play due to "personal reasons".
The 32-year-old actor had been performing in a revival of Mike Bartlett’s 2009 play Cock at London’s Ambassadors Theatre - where he where he was starring alongside Bridgeton's Jonathan Bailey. In a statement released by the Twitter account for the play, it said that his understudy will take over the role of M.
The statement added: "The part was originally played in this production by Taron Egerton, who has had to withdraw from the production due to personal reasons."
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It is not the first time that Egerton has had problems since taking on the role. He was previously forced off stage at the Ambassadors Theatre in Leicester Square after passing out.
Reassuring fans afterwards at the time, he said: "I am completely fine. Slightly sore neck and a bruised ego, but I'm fine.
"As some of you may have heard, I passed out during the first performance of Cock last night. I've decided to put a positive spin on it and I would appreciate it if anyone who was in the theatre last night just said that I gave such a committed, electrifying performance that my body couldn't handle it and check out.
"That being said, apparently you're meant to actually do the full show and not just three quarters of it. So I'll be back with a vengeance tomorrow night. Thank you to the amazing team at the theatre and my wonderful cast mates for being so lovely."
And more recently, he had to take an enforced break after contracting coronavirus.
Fans said they were devastated to learn the news that Egerton was now leaving the show, with many having booked especially to watch him perform. However, his understudy - Joel Harper-Jackson - has won rave reviews for stepping in.
The show's director Marianne Elliott described Harper-Jackson as an "absolute hero", saying that he's a "brilliant and gifted actor" who took over the role "at extremely short notice". Cock centres around John (Bailey), a man who falls in love with a woman (Jade Anouka) after going on a break from his long-term boyfriend (Egerton).
Egerton, who was brought up in Aberystwyth, won a Golden Globe for his portrayal of Elton John in Rocketman. He has also wowed audiences and won rave reviews in the Eddie the Eagle in 2016 film and landed a role in the 2021 animated movie Sing 2.
