HBO’s Sex and the City continues to resonate with generations of viewers for its exploration of female friendships and sexuality. Recently, Sex and the City became a streaming hit yet again on Netflix. The show’s famously complicated protagonist, Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker), is based on real-life columnist Candace Bushnell, who also wrote about sex and relationships, and even used the name Carrie as a pseudonym in her column. A number of ensemble cast members of Sex and the City, including Mr. Big, also have real-life counterparts.

While writing the real “Sex and The City” column for The New York Observer from 1994-1996, Candace Bushnell was allegedly in a tumultuous relationship with Ron Galotti, a publishing executive behind GQ and Talk magazines. Unlike Carrie, Bushnell did not end up with Galotti and instead married principal ballet dancer Charles Askegard in 2002. The couple went on to divorce in 2012, marking yet another difference between Carrie Bradshaw’s ending and Bushnell’s personal life.

Carrie Bradshaw Is Based On Candace Bushnell

Both Bushnell And Bradshaw Are Fashionable Blondes Who Take New York By Storm

Similar to Carrie Bradshaw, Candace Bushnell moved to New York City in the 1970s, where she once frequented Studio 54 and became acquainted with the New York social scene. Bushnell later penned The Carrie Diaries to provide insight into Carrie Bradshaw’s teenage years, which were adapted for television. Anna Sophia Robb played the titular role of Carrie, with Austin Butler as her love interest, Sebastian Kydd. Similar to Bushnell’s upbringing in Connecticut, the author set Carrie’s childhood in the same state.

Both the real Candace Bushnell and the fictional Carrie Bradshaw are involved in the high fashion world outside of their writing careers. In Sex And The City, Carrie briefly works as a fashion contributor at Vogue. Bushnell has written about fashion throughout her career and contributed a piece to Harper’s Bazaar in 2018 regarding the ageless nature of personal style. Bushnell wrote, “This is what fashion is about right now: breaking the rules about age-appropriate dressing for women ‘of a certain age.’ And it’s not just happening on the red carpet” (via Harper’s Bazaar).

Other Sex And The City Characters Based On Real People

Mr. Big Had A Real Life Counterpart

Mr. Big (Chris Noth), whose real name was revealed to be John James Preston at the conclusion of Sex and the City, is also based on a real person. While Bushnell penned her famous column for The New York Observer, she was reportedly in a relationship with a Mr. Big-esque man. Ron Galotti was a publishing executive for a variety of large media imprints, from GQ to Talk and more. In the show, Big is a wealthy financier.

Mr. Big and Carrie have a notorious on-again, off-again relationship throughout the six seasons of Sex and the City. Their turbulent relationship ends marriages and relationships on both sides, and causes rifts in her friendships. By the end of Sex and the City, Big follows Carrie to Paris and professes his love for her, finally recognizing that she is his best match. Bushnell’s life went very differently, and she did not marry her answer to Mr. Big like viewers see Carrie do in the 2008 Sex and the City movie.

Carrie Bradshaw’s signature girl gang of Samantha Jones (Kim Cattrall), Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon), and Charlotte York (Kristin Davis) are all loosely based on Bushnell’s real circle of friends, who were all referred to in her column. However, the show’s sequel And Just Like That shows a rift has developed between Samantha and Carrie, while Bushnell confirmed in 2022 that the real-life Samantha is still in her life (via Marie Claire).

Candace Bushnell’s Involvement In Sex And The City Explained

The Writer Was A Part Of The Show’s Earliest Seasons

Candace Bushnell was involved in the show’s early development and the writing in the show’s earliest seasons. Sex and the City was produced by Darren Star, who continues to co-produce And Just Like That opposite series star Sarah Jessica Parker. Bushnell’s involvement dwindled in Sex and the City’s latter seasons, and she is not involved with the production of And Just Like That.

Sex and the City‘s earlier seasons notably see Carrie Bradshaw interviewing sources and conducting research on unique topics within the sex and relationships sphere for her column. The show’s later seasons abandoned the interview format, likely in the absence of Bushnell’s journalistic background. As Sex and the City progresses, the column comes to rely more on Carrie and her friends’ personal experiences rather than interviews with strangers.

And Just Like That follows Carrie reconnecting with her ex-boyfriend, Aidan Shaw (John Corbett), following the death of Mr. Big, while Miranda navigates her sexuality after her divorce and Charlotte finds a work-life balance between her family and her career. Carrie is still in New York City, and instead of a column, she has a sex podcast. Bushnell most recently penned her 2019 book Is There Still Sex In The City? and now splits her time between New York City and the Hamptons, and does not have a podcast. While Sex and the City took plenty of inspiration from reality, it also took creative liberties in its characters’ stories.