Taron Egerton has stepped down from a lead role in the West End play Cock due to 'personal reasons'.
The actor, 32, had been among the cast of the revival of the stage play at the Ambassador Theatre in London, which included Bridgerton's Jonathan Bailey.
It was announced on Saturday Taron, who was playing the character M, has withdrawn from the show due to "personal reasons", with his understudy taking over full-time for the rest of its run.
It comes after the Rocketman star sparked concern from fans when he fainted during a preview of the show last month and was recently absent from the show after testing positive for Covid-19.
Show bosses issued a statement where they revealed understudy Joel Harper-Jackson would take over the role, after the actor had already been filling in for the Golden Globe winner while Taron battled Covid.
They said: "Joel Harper-Jackson will take over the role of M in Mike Bartlett's razor sharp, hilarious play Cock until the end of the run.
"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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The statement said Taron's understudy had been playing the part for the "past ten days" as the actor recovered from coronavirus at home.
The revival's director Marianne Elliott, 55, praised Joel in the recent post, referring to him as an "absolute hero." He was further described as a "brilliant and gifted actor".
"Joel is an absolute hero. He is a brilliant and gifted actor and stepped into the role at extremely short notice. Audiences have been standing and cheering and so am I," she wrote.
Similarly, his co-star Jonathan Bailey, 33, - who is best known as Viscount Anthony Bridgerton in Netflix's Bridgerton - who plays lead John in the play, complimented Joel for his craft.
The actor commented in the post: "Joel is an immense talent and we couldn't be luckier to have him on board. I am proud to continue sharing the stage with him."
The play opened last month, with Taron having collapsed on stage during one of the initial performances. He was replaced for the remainder of the performance by his then-understudy Joel.
The play written in 2009 by Mike Bartlett, centres around John, a gay man who feels torn after meeting and falling in love with a woman.
It's understood that a doctor had been in the audience and came to the aid of the Kingsman actor, after he had fainted - with Taron later addressing the incident on social media.
He said: "I passed out during the first performance of COCK last night. I am completely fine. Slightly sore neck and a bruised ego, but I'm fine."
The actor took the opportunity to thank Joel - who he described as an "an amazing actor and a lovely person" - with him confirming that he would return for the next show's performance.
He also said: Thank you to the amazing team at the theatre and my wonderful cast mates for being so lovely."
Taron later returned to the show - before being absent more recently due to Covid - prior to the news that he has withdrawn from the production completely.
The Mirror approached Taron Egerton's representative for comment.
Cock is running at the Ambassadors Theatre until June 4.
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