Jed Mercurio, who wrote the hit BBC thriller, said in a new interview that the popular police protection officer would definitely still be featured in a new series – despite insisting just days ago there had been no discussion yet about the show continuing.
Speaking to the Radio Times this week, Jed insisted that he would "rather not" get rid of Sergeant Budd but suggested they would be "lucky" to sign the Game Of Thrones actor, 32, on for a second series if the BBC were to commission one.
When asked if he might kill off the bodyguard, the writer said: "I'd rather not, because it would leave a massive hole."
He also expressed his fear that Richard might not return, and explained: "He's the genuine article, a real leading man.
"And I think this role has put him very much in the spotlight for bigger things.
"So the practicality may be that we have to work around his availability, if we are lucky to get him back."
However, he warned that until the BBC were on board, the drama wouldn't be continuing.
Jed said: "Some shows do nosedive at the end, or some piece of content could become incredibly controversial and affect the way the show is seen.
"In the end, you have to accept that the broadcaster holds all the cards."
But on Sunday, the writer revealed there had been "absolutely no discussion" about a follow-up series of the show, which stars Keeley Hawes as Home Secretary Julia Montague.
When asked about a follow-up, he told Metro: "I really don't know.
"The approach to it was definitely that we would just focus on this series and if we're fortunate enough it's successful and the BBC wants to do more, and we can find a way of setting up production, then yes definitely I'd be open to the idea.
"But there's been absolutely no discussion about a second series yet, there's certainly no plan to do a second series yet until we've had that conversation with the BBC."
It comes as Bodyguard actor Stuart Bowman refused to deny Julia Montague died in last week's shock explosion on Good Morning Britain this morning.
The star, who plays Stephen Hunter-Dunn, was grilled by Susanna Reid and Piers Morgan but expertly evaded the question in a way that his head of MI5 alter-ego would be proud of.
Susanna bluntly asked: "Is Julia Montague dead?"
Stuart remained stern-faced before breaking into a grin, and tried to change the subject to how his son believes he really is in the intelligence service.
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