Taron Egerton says dropping out of West End play was ‘one of the hardest decisions I’ve had to make’

Actor fainted on stage during first night and contracted Covid before fully leaving show

Taron Egerton has explained why he dropped out of his first West End play this spring.

In March, the Rocketman star made his West End debut opposite Bridgerton’s Jonathan Bailey in a new production of Mike Bartlett’s play Cock.

However, his time in the production was short-lived. During the first show, Egerton collapsed on stage in the middle of the performance.

He briefly returned to the production, but then tested positive for Covid-19 and had to pull out for a week. Instead of returning to the production, he then left completely, citing “personal reasons”.

In a new interview with The New York Times, Egerton explained that a cancer diagnosis within his family had forced him to withdraw from the production.

“Toward the end of last year, a close family member was diagnosed with cancer, and I dropped out of a film to come home and be with that person,” he explained.

“I thought that, with the play, I was ready to go back to work, but I wasn’t. I had to leave, and it was sad, and absolutely one of the hardest decisions I’ve had to make.”

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 was replaced in the production by Joel Harper-Jackson.

You can read The Independent’s four-star review of Cock here.