DEAR diary, can it really be 25 years since we first met Bridget Jones? Now the famous singleton is making a comeback.

 

25 years!

Fans of the first book may be surprised how quickly time has whooshed past, but it was indeed in 1996 that the first novel was published. The work, by Helen Fielding, evolved from her 'Bridget Jones's Diary' columns in The Independent in The Daily Telegraph. Written in diary excerpts, it focused on Bridget's love life, her worries about her weight, her career and her over-indulgence in alcohol and cigarettes.

 

It was a best-seller?

The debut has sold more than 15 million copies and was followed by The Edge of Reason in 1999, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy in 2013 and Bridget Jones's Baby: The Diaries in 2016.

 

Hollywood came calling…?

In 2001, Bridget Jones took to the silver screen, with Hollywood star Renee Zellweger in the titular role, co-starring alongside Colin Firth as Mark Darcy and Hugh Grant as Daniel Cleaver. It has become an iconic part of pop culture and spawned a franchise, with movies made of the other works, with the most recent being 2016's Bridget Jones's Baby, co-starring Patrick Dempsey and Firth, although all was revealed by the closing titles.

 

Now?

Zellweger, 53, is said to be returning to her iconic role that would follow-on from the last movie, which Bridget spent trying to determine who the father of her baby was, although all was revealed by the final scenes. The movie is understood to have been co-written by creator Fielding, and will focus on Bridget as a mum.

 

Excitement is building?

"There have been few more successful or more popular rom-coms than Bridget Jones over the last couple of decades, but everyone thought this one was done for good,” a source told The Sun. “However the producers always knew there was a huge market for another sequel when the right story was available, and this feels like the right time to tell it. It will be seven or eight years since the last movie by the time this one hits the big screen, and fans will be desperate to find out what happened. It’s a British classic.”

 

 

Changing times?

Bridget’s early focus on her weight and appearance later raised retrospective questions about the impact of the character on the way women looked at themselves. In an article in Vogue last year, writer Sophie Vershbow, said: "When I watch the movie now, I’m struck by the lengths to which it goes to link Bridget’s weight with her overall health and lifestyle." 

 

Now?

The Oscar-winner - who is dating British-born US TV presenter and motor specialist, Ant Anstead - gained 30lbs for the first film, but in an interview after the last movie, said she didn’t get the fuss about the character’s weight. Zellweger said she did "put on a few pounds" and "a baby bump" for the 2016 film, but added: "‘Bridget is a perfectly normal weight and I’ve never understood why it matters so much."

 

She’s up for the return?

The star recently told a US radio station of Bridget: “I love being in her shoes. I find her so endearing … her self-deprecating sort of determination. I love her. And I think it's really rare to get to follow a character through different stages in her life.”