“I wasn’t sufficiently prepared,” the breakout star said of playing his heartthrob character the Duke of Hastings on the hit Netflix series

Regé-Jean Page isn’t as excited to watch himself on-screen as his Bridgerton fans are.

During the latest installment of The Hollywood Reporter‘s Emmy Roundtable series, the Bridgerton star —who quickly became a fan favorite for his heartthrob character Simon Bassett (or the Duke of Hastings) — discussed what it was like to watch his steamy romance scenes during the breakout Netflix series and how he also prepared his family to view them.

Throughout the show, Page, 31, has several intimate scenes with costar Phoebe Dynevor who plays his love interest Daphne Bridgerton. Although proud of the show’s success, the actor revealed it was “overwhelming” to watch himself.

“No one was sufficiently prepared. I wasn’t sufficiently prepared, and I was there,” Page said with a laugh. “I think people were grateful for the intensity of the romantic aspects of Bridgerton; I’m not sure how grateful I was to watch it for myself. It was overwhelming. But I think people were looking to be overwhelmed.”

He continued, “My family doesn’t want to be overwhelmed by my backside, specifically, too often, but they’ll take it on this occasion because everyone seems to be terribly happy.”

Dynevor, 26, recently opened up about the on-screen moments she shared with Page, telling Jimmy Fallon during an appearance on The Tonight Show that “it’s hard not to” have chemistry with her costar, noting that the believable romance was thanks to extreme eye contact.

“We both had dance rehearsals together, and we were both kind of nervous about the dancing part. I remember we had a few rehearsals and one of them got recorded so we got to watch it back and we were like, ‘Oh, eye contact really does a lot of the work,'” she said on the late-night show.

Page’s performance ultimately scored him a SAG Award nomination for outstanding performance by a male actor in a drama series. He was also recognized with an NAACP Image Award nomination.

Despite the success of his breakout role, the next season of Bridgerton, which has already started production, won’t include Page and his beloved character. The actor announced his exit from the series in April on his Instagram. The official social media accounts for the show also shared the news.

“While all eyes turn to Lord Anthony Bridgerton’s quest to find a Viscountess, we bid adieu to Regé-Jean Page, who so triumphantly played the Duke of Hastings,” he said, calling the show the “ride of a life time.” “We’ll miss Simon’s presence onscreen, but he will always be a part of the Bridgerton family.”

After the shocking news, Bridgerton producer Shonda Rhimes explained to Vanity Fair that Page’s character still lives on and the show is moving on to the next “world-shifting romance.”

Earlier this year, Page was announced to star in Dungeons & Dragons, the upcoming Paramount movie based on the popular role-playing game, opposite Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez and Justice Smith.