Does Carrie Bradshaw Really Need A New Man?

Carrie and Big, Big and Carrie, a couple almost iconic as Times Square itself. But as pictures from the New York set of And Just Like That begin to circulate of Sarah Jessica Parker kissing a new mystery man played by actor Jon Tenney, we couldn’t help but wonder... Is their relationship finally over?

The full details of Tenney’s character are yet to be released but fans of the show will remember that when we last saw Carrie in 2010 in the Sex And The City 2 movie she and Big were happily (and we use that word loosely for a relationship as toxic as theirs) married. So, that leads us to question, are Big and Carrie divorced? Has he – as some fans have speculated – died? Is she having an affair?

In July a leaked script from the HBO series, which is due to be released in December, revealed Carrie was unsure about her role in the marriage. Carrie is said to have told friends Miranda, Charlotte and Stanford, ‘I was taping the podcast, I was washing my hair. Yes, I wasn’t eating or sleeping, but at least I felt good about my marriage. Now I’m just one of the wives he was taking care of?.’

It’s thought that Carrie is referring to her relationship in past tense also noting the two previous wives commitment-phobe Big had before her. Fan reactions were a mixed bag with some hoping that this will be it for the couple forever, while others claimed they wouldn’t watch the show if they had really split.

For those of you who need a quick refresher Carrie and Big’s relationship has never been short of drama. From his inability to settle down, to his late night calls while she was already taken, and who can forget the time he announced that he was moving to Paris with no warning. In the first film he failed to show up to their wedding leaving a crushed Carrie to flee to Mexico.

They say nothing lasts forever but the big question we have is, if Big and Carrie aren’t together any more, was it really necessary for her to move on so quickly? Afterall, even Candace Bushnell, 62, who wrote the books on which the series is based, recently admitted that hanging all your hopes on a man isn’t the most feminist of storylines.

She told the New York Post, ‘The reality is, finding a guy is maybe not your best economic choice in the long term. Men can be very dangerous to women in a lot of different ways. We never talk about this, but that’s something that women need to think about: You can do a lot less when you have to rely on a man. The TV show and the message were not very feminist at the end. But that’s TV. That’s entertainment. That’s why people should not base their lives on a TV show.’

Seeing Carrie single in her fifties would have been empowering, not just for women of her age, but for all of us who have grown up being told that the only way to find happiness is to find yourself with a ring on your finger. And while it’s sure to be a hyper-romantic storyline if she has finally found her ‘Mr Right,’ after years of chasing after the walking, talking, red flag that is Big, it would have been good to see her stand on her own two, perfectly manicured, Manolo-wearing, feet for a while.

READ MORE: What You Need To Know About And Just Like That, The Sex And The City Reboot