‘Carrie taught women it was OK to be single’

Closer’s dating expert Rebecca Twomey – a huge fan of SATC – reveals why she thinks the show still resonates more than two decades since it first aired.

“Carrie Bradshaw once said, ‘Sometimes it’s really hard to walk in a single woman’s shoes’. But thanks to the character and her three best pals – Charlotte, Miranda and Samantha – each step of my single years has been much more comfortable.

“The SATC ladies were formidable 30-somethings who – albeit a fantasy – led the most incredible lives. They showed us that women could have it all and do it all without a man by their side. Essentially, they taught me how to succeed at being single.

“All of a sudden, being alone wasn’t shameful. They had jobs they loved, were independent, and could somehow afford designer fashion and still have enough money to live in amazing apartments, chain-drink Manhattans, eat New York brunches – and by some miracle, stay incredibly slim.

“When I was a university student, I’d devour each episode on DVD, and as an aspiring journalist I dreamed of writing a dating column like Carrie – which, 15 years later, I am thrilled to have achieved with Closer.

“I share some of Carrie’s worst traits, which I’m not proud of. And I’ve had multiple Mr Bigs who I wasted a monumental amount of my time, and tears, on. But Carrie helped us to never give up on love, no matter how many times it goes wrong – and it did multiple times for all of the characters. The secret to getting through all the bad sex, dating roller coasters and heartache was each other.

“For me, the true love story of SATC was their friendship. I cry over the scenes where the girls support Samantha through her cancer battle, and Charlotte over her fight to be a mother – and don’t get me started on when Carrie travels across New York on New Year’s Eve just to give Miranda a hug. In the words of Carrie once again, ‘Trends come and go, but friendships never go out of style.’”