Dame Helen Mirren has shown her “love” for MobLand co-star Tom Hardy amid reports about his future in the show.

The two British actors appeared alongside one another in the Paramount+ crime drama, with filming on the second run of episodes having wrapped earlier this year.

However, over the last week, it’s been heavily rumoured that the Dark Knight Rises star will not be returning for season three.

Earlier this month, Variety reported that Tom “was not asked to return to the series” following supposed disputes with executive producer Jez Butterworth.

While not commenting on the rumours directly, Dame Helen did allude to the drama in an Instagram post shared on Thursday evening.

Posting a picture of Tom, she wrote: “Love you now and always […] Helen.”

Comments had notably been turned off on the post, which was uploaded days after footage of Dame Helen being confronted by a pro-Palestine demonstrator over her past support of Israel was posted online.

On Thursday, Variety posted a follow-up piece suggesting that Tom had, in fact, not been fired from MobLand, citing an undisclosed “source close to production” who apparently told them that “the door is not closed for season three and things are being worked through creatively”.

HuffPost UK has contacted representatives for both Tom Hardy and the streaming service Paramount+ for comment.

The first season of MobLand premiered last year, quickly becoming one of Paramount+’s biggest shows.

As well as Dame Helen and Tom, the show also features big names including Pierce Brosnan, Paddy Considine, Downton Abbey’s Joanne Froggatt and Bafta winner Toby Jones among its cast, with Guy Ritchie on both executive producing and directing duties.

While Tom’s return seemingly remains up in the air, shooting on the third season of MobLand is reported by Variety to be getting underway in the autumn.