Four singletons searching for love in New York City took the world by storm in 1998 with the debut of the Sex and the City TV series. As excitement mounts to the opening of the long-awaited movie, Denise Carter speaks to some of the show's biggest fans

Take out your Manolos and grab a cosmopolitan because the Sex and the City girls are back.

They may be older (well, aren’t we all) and whether they’re any wiser is yet to be seen, but if the level of excitement the upcoming movie is stirring is anything to go by, it’s clear Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah-Jessica Parker), Samantha Jones (Kim Cattrall), Charlotte York (Kristin Davis) and Miranda Hobbs (Cynthia Nixon) are still our gal-pal idols.

It’s 10 years, yes 10 years, since Sex and the City showed up on TV and in six seasons and six years, it has come in for some criticism, particularly at the outset, for its colourful language and show-all sex scenes.

But its legacy has surely been to expose what real women talk about and to show the value of their friendships.

The series, based on Candace Bushnell’s novel, also championed the single gal, railing against her treatment as an inhuman sub-species as it unashamedly celebrated her professional, financial, and emotional independence.

As our New York columnist Carrie said in her final monologue in the final episode of the final series, "the most exciting, challenging and significant relationship of all is the one you have with yourself. And if you find someone to love the you you love, well, that’s just fabulous".

Yes, most single girls do want to find their "Mr Big" and as rumours are circulating about the movie plot, one of the biggest questions from die-hard fans is: will Carrie keep her man?

"I’m a bit nervous to see if Carrie gets to keep Mr Big," 32-year-old Andrea Bates says.

And that’s even though Andrea, who ordered her box sets of the show from the US, would have preferred Carrie to have stayed with former boyfriend Aidan Shaw (John Corbett).

"I was in love with him," Andrea says.

Responsible for many a Sex and the City night with her friends, Andrea has organised events to view the series, and has even carted around vats of the infamous cosmopolitan cocktail to parties.

"I wasn’t popular by the end of those nights," Andrea says, laughing. "I remember bringing a big cooler of cosmopolitan to my friend’s 30th and she was very prim and proper, (like Charlotte), but by the end of the night, she was swearing and really going on," she says.

Andrea loves the way the Sex and the City girls are bold and sassy and says that when she was in her mid 20s her friends were similar.

"When it came out I felt like someone had been following us around with a camera," Andrea says.

"They (the SATC girls) would talk about the size of a guy’s dick, and whether they could put up with someone with back hair.

"I had the same conversations with my girlfriends.

"I remember when Charlotte got a vibrator and there had to be an intervention because she was addicted to it – the show really was groundbreaking."

Likening herself to Carrie, Andrea says she shares the character’s shoe fetish, and buys shoes first, then outfits.

And she has had similar relationships that went nowhere.

"I’d keep going back to the same person who was not very good for me," she says.

Andrea’s favourite character overall is Sam, "because she’s growing old disgracefully".

For all the fun, though, Andrea says the series had depth, especially towards its conclusion, where it covered "serious issues like cancer and trying to fall pregnant in your late 30s".

Andrea has met her Mr Big, and incidentally one who loves Sex and the City purely because of all the sex scenes.

"When we travelled around Australia, he was forced to watch it even though he thought of it as a chick flick," she says.

"But by the end, he would say, ‘so are we going to watch Sex and the City’."

One of the key aspects of Sex and the City has been its realistic reflection of women’s lives.

Thirty-year-old Mai-Lee Saixang didn’t start off as a fan.

But not only did she grow to love the show, she has found she has evolved with the characters.

"Before I watched the show, I thought it was about a bunch of dirty women," Mai-Lee says.

"But when I actually saw it, I realised they were the epitome of the older single working woman who makes choices," she says.

Originally Mai-Lee identified with the character of Charlotte, who is a true romantic. But with changes in her life, Mai-Lee says she has become more of a Miranda.

"I found (the series) so true to life," Mai-Lee says.

"When Miranda became a single mum and has baby issues, and when she is dating again, it’s spot on."

Mai-Lee’s favourite episode is where Charlotte drags her friends to a tantric sex class, because, she says, it was so educational.

And yes, she has friends who resemble SATC characters.

"I have a friend who so reminds me of Carrie," she says.

"She looks like Carrie and is as neurotic."

Mai-Lee will show the six seasons of SATC before going to the movie to her friends and boyfriend, who is more an Aidan than a Mr Big (Chris Noth).

"After all Mr Big really hurt Carrie," she says.

And she’s unafraid any plot line can spoil the movie.

"The series has been realistic so I won’t be surprised if the girls’ lives become undone," she says.

The underlying message in the show for 39-year-old Andrea Bell has been the friendships of the principal characters and she likens them to her own friends.

"With your real friends you tell them everything," Andrea says.

"SATC is a bit like how we live our lives," she says.

"We like to drink, we love to socialise, adore fashion, and like to have a good time."

Andrea loves the naughty side of Carrie, but admits she is probably more of a Charlotte.

And she relishes the fact the SATC girls are in their 40s and 50s.

"I used to think 40 was old, but I am 40 next month," she says.

Andrea’s girl pal Sonya Barber, 34, is also a major fan of the show.

Sonya loved the characters’ obsessions with fashion and friendship and of course, sex.

"My favourite episode is the one where Samantha Jones is going out with an older fellow and she finds out he has a saggy bottom," Sonya says, laughing.

But perhaps Cairns’ biggest fan of the show is Nellie Verghese.

The 22-year-old has watched the show on TV, has the box sets and watches re-runs on cable (she plans to watch 20 episodes back to back on the Queen’s Birthday).

"When I watch the show I get so excited, I punch the air, whoo!" Nellie says.

When it comes to her favourite aspects of the show, she is loathe to break it down into characters, but prefers to talk about the overall aesthetic.

"I love the writing, the cinematography, the styling and the costumes," Nellie says.

"I remember an episode where they went to Salt Lake City and there is a scene where Carrie is sitting on a pier," she says.

"There is a pink sunset and Carrie is wearing an electric blue jacket – everything put on that screen has been planned out."

Even though Nellie adores the fashion and says had Manolos been sold in Cairns she would definitely have acquired a pair by now, her main love is the dynamic between the characters.

"I would desire the relationships they had more than any Jimmy Choo or Manolo accessories," Nellie says.

Nellie is trying to keep calm about the movie.

"I’m conscious of my level of excitement," she says, "so I don’t want to play it up too much".

After so many years SATC still has the following of generations of women.

And it appears for all the shows trying to emulate its style, no other has taken its place.

As Nellie says, "never could, never would".

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