There’s likely not a single one of us that has gone through the motions of life without quoting Bridget Jones at some point.

She is the permanent moment. An icon for British women of all ages. And with her lovable buffoonery and self-deprecating wit, she’s nothing less than beloved.

Most importantly, she’s been with us throughout the years. First there was the book in 1996. Then, since 2001, when the first Bridget Jones’s Diary film hit our screens and shaped our hearts (and culture), we’ve never been able to let her go. 

From watching her build an impressive career as a TV producer with seemingly no experience, juggling the ups-and-downs of love and both floundering and flourishing in her relationship with monosyllabic king Mr Darcy, and tackling later-in-life motherhood, Bridget has been through it all. And we’ve been right there beside her.

Now, six years after the most recent Bridget saga Bridget Jones’s Baby, author Helen Fielding has dropped hints that have reignited our anticipation for Ms Jones’s hijinks.

“Yes I’m working on it and I really hope it will happen,” Fielding said in a Radio Times interview. “Every film that gets made is a miracle – it’s really difficult to make films happen and to make them good. But I’d love to see it on the screen.”

While Bridget Jones’s Baby wasn’t an adaptation of an existing novel, the fourth movie would likely return to form and work from one of the series’ instalments Mad About The Boy, which Fielding published in 2013.

The story takes place with Bridget in her 50s and reeling from a recent catastrophe that has spun her world into motion. This, on top of her struggles to adapt to a technology-based world, motherhood and dealing with the unavoidable fact of ageing sets the tone for another classic Bridget narrative. 

Quite frankly, the possibility of another film sparks an incandescent joy that can be felt rippling through the female population. 

Are we saying that another Bridget Jones instalment could make the world a better place? Well, if anyone could do it, Bridget probably could.

It’s quite a feat to describe how much the film series shaped not only the romcom, but British cinema as a whole. The 2001 original brought in $282 million at the global box office according to Entertainment Weekly, with the sequels also pulling in figures above $200 million.

And if you tried to get a cinema ticket to watch Bridget return after a 12-year hiatus in 2016, you’ll know that it was no small task. Theatres across the country stuck signs on their doors informing fans that their runs were entirely sold out.

So why is Bridget so popular? In short, it’s because she’s perfectly imperfect. It’s almost impossible to talk about Bridget without referring to her slightly perkier American counterpart Carrie Bradshaw, but it’s a useful comparison. Both born of columns penned by strong-voiced women in Fielding and Candace Bushnell, these were characters that were allowed to be women in all their messy glory. 

But Bridget goes that step further. You won’t find her splurging on Manolo Blahniks and swapping food for copies of Vogue. No, Bridget will probably be lying on the sofa in pyjamas watching Fatal Attraction reruns, or debating whether to wear her stomach shaping knickers. (Another reason to love Bridget – she made shapewear cool way before Kim K got there.)

Fielding herself found the global connection to Bridget surprising at first, but ultimately comforting. Even with doubts that she felt the Bridget Jones column was “too silly”, eventually she realised that the Bridget appeal was important to women everywhere, as well as herself.

“When I was doing the publicity, I still thought I was fat and saying the wrong thing, and somehow as if I was wearing wellingtons on the red carpet. But I knew I wasn’t the only person infected with the idea that I should look like someone out of a magazine,” she wrote in a Guardian article in 2013. “I knew that what the fans of Bridget were really responding to, amid the inundation of images of perfection, was that it’s actually alright to be human, just to sort of muddle along, try to do things right, be nice to your friends, and laugh about what goes wrong on the way.”

And “muddle along” might be the best way to describe Bridget. Ultimately, it’s what we all find ourselves doing, even if we’re not always aware of it.

As it stands, it’s not confirmed yet if Renée Zellweger will be returning to the role, although fans know that the quirky Brit is a character she has adored playing in the past.

“Oh, I don’t think Bridget ever really leaves,” Zellweger said in a Red interview in 2020. “She’s always there, particularly if I have a live television event or red carpet. And I love her – she makes me laugh. I mean, she’s always a delight.”

Delightful indeed. And regardless of whether Bridget is being her delightful and charming self, or a hilarious clutz demonstrating her ability to land herself in foot-in-mouth moments, we’ll take a note from Mark Darcy and continue to love her.

Just the way she is. 

Images: Getty; Universal