Whether watching Sex and the City or And Just Like That… the love lives of Carrie, Charlotte and Miranda have made us laugh and cry for decades.
But behind the scenes, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kristin Davis are the complete opposite of their on-screen counterparts, while Cynthia Nixon has seen a case of art imitating life.
Read on to learn all about their reel-to-real romances…
Who is Sarah Jessica Parker’s husband?
Carrie Bradshaw certainly has high expectations when it comes to what she wants. “I’m looking for love. Real love. Ridiculous, inconvenient, consuming, can’t-live-without-each-other love,” she declares during one emotional scene in SATC.
And, maybe, they were a bit too high. After hundreds of first dates, the unlucky-in-love leading lady finally locked down Mr Big (Chris Noth) only for him to be killed off in AJLT. Reuniting with Aidan (John Corbett) doesn’t seem to have worked out any better, with her former flame fleeing back to the country at the end of Season 2.
Sarah Jessica Parker’s love-life couldn’t be more different from her on-screen counterpart. The 60-year-old Hocus Pocus star is half of one of Hollywood’s most successful and enduring relationships.
After dating Robert Downey Jr. and John F. Kennedy Jr., she was swept off her feet by Matthew Broderick.
“He’s so bright, so handsome, I think he’s the most handsome man I’ve seen in my life,” Parker told The Los Angeles Times in 1996. “And he inspires me. I’m mad for him, totally.”
What is the secret behind Sarah Jessica Parker’s long marriage?
After six years of dating, the pair tied the knot in 1997, saying “I do” before she ever donned Carrie’s iconic pink tutu on the streets of Manhattan.
The couple share son James, 22, and 15-year-old twin daughters, Tabitha and Marion, meaning Parker likely has much more in common with Charlotte than she has with Carrie.
The Parker-Broderick family resides in New York City, which Parker credited with much of the reason why they are still together today when asked the secret behind her successful relationship.
“Probably that I don’t talk about it! It really is a secret,” she told Hello magazine.“But maybe it’s because we’re not a Hollywood couple. We live in New York – maybe that’s good.”
As for what he admires most about his wife? “Humour and wisdom,” Broderick said on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen.
And unlike Big or Aidan – or Jack Berger (Ron Livingston), who broke up with Carrie on a Post-it note – the Ferris Bueller’s Day Off star, 63, never had any commitment issues, admitting it was a case of love at first sight when he crossed paths with Parker.
“Oh, the first time I met her,” Broderick said when asked when he realised she was who he wanted to spend his life with. “I saw her walking down the street and thought, ‘That’s it.’”
Is Kristin Davis married?
Charlotte York was the one in SATC’s girl gang who couldn’t wait to settle down, with the hopeless romantic marrying Harry (Evan Handler) and starting their family.
The on-screen couple share Lily (Cathy Ang) and Rock (Alexa Swinton), and live in a to-die-for Park Avenue apartment.
But behind the scenes, Kristin Davis’ life more closely resembles that of Carrie Bradshaw.
The 60-year-old star has struggled to find The One, despite being linked to a succession of high-profile men over the years, including Alec Baldwin, Liev Schreiber and Damien Lewis.
Her last known relationship was with The West Wing and The Newsroom creator Aaron Sorkin in 2012.
She told People magazine earlier this year that she was “not actively pursuing” dating.
One thing Davis did do differently from Carrie, though, was decide to start a family on her own. T
The actress was 46 when she adopted her daughter, Gemma Rose, in 2011, later adopting son Wilson in 2018. Of her decision to start so late in life, Davis said she “wasn’t there in my head or my heart yet” while she was in her thirties.
“For me, there was no other way that it could have happened,” she told US Today. “People sometimes say, ‘Oh, do you regret this, or regret that?’” she added. “No, I don’t have any regrets because I love my kids.”
Interestingly, Davis was originally offered the main role of Carrie, which she reportedly turned down as she felt the character swore and drank too much alcohol.
Is Cynthia Nixon married?
During the SATC years and its movie spin-offs, Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon) was married to Steve Brady (David Eigenberg).
Fast-forward to AJLT… and Miranda began experimenting with her sexuality and identity after falling for Che (Sara Ramirez).
Her later-in-life coming out storyline was inspired by the actress herself.
The 59-year-old star publicly came out as gay in 2004, within months of the end of her marriage to husband Danny Mozes and the original show ending.
She was dating Christine Marinoni at the time. Nixon and Marinoni wed in 2012, a year after they welcomed their son, Max.
“Look at Cynthia, where she is – where Miranda could be,” AJLT showrunner Michael Patrick King told Variety of the storyline that saw the character become a lesbian.
(And Just Like That… is available to stream on Max in Australia)
