Dan Stevens responds to those ‘Downton Abbey’ movie return rumours

Downton Abbey star Dan Stevens got fans speculating madly last year with a certain Instagram post.

The Beauty and the Beast star shot to fame in the first three seasons of Downton as Lady Mary’s love interest, Matthew Crawley.

While nearly all the main cast of Downton Abbey are reprising their roles in the upcoming movie, nobody was expecting to see Matthew again as the character was brutally killed off in 2012’s Christmas special just after Mary gave birth to their baby son.

That all changed when Stevens shared a photo online last summer, having a reunion in LA with former co-stars Michelle Dockery (Lady Mary) and Allen Leech (Tom Branston).

The 32-year-old actor added to the fan frenzy with this cheeky comment: “Should Matthew have a mustache for the #DowntonAbbeyMovie…? Vote below…”

Sadly, Stevens has now confirmed that Matthew won’t be back, with Deadline reporting that he’s “not going to be in the Downton Abbey movie after all.”

So that’s a shame, although we’re not sure we ever really believed it was going to happen in the first place!

Still, with the movie’s plot remaining shrouded in secrecy, it’s not impossible that Matthew Crawley might appear in a surprise cameo, most likely in a flashback scene or a dream sequence.

The Downton Abbey movie is released in cinemas worldwide this September.

Downton Abbey: The Complete Collection DVD box set is available on Amazon.