I have spent the morning wrestling with a moral dilemma. Someone new has joined my pilates class. Someone *gasp* famous. Someone, moreover, who appears in my absolute favourite TV series ever. I mean, ever. Ever. I have watched it a million times. I have forced my children to watch it. It has inspired a host of imitators, including a novel which is now probably more famous than the original book the show is based on, which in turn has led to two block busting movies. Have you guessed yet?
Should I, though, respect the privacy of my little pilates class? Should I keep the secret within its slightly crumbling walls and reveal nothing?
Well, I’m sorry but it’s just too exciting. For me. I appreciate that probably most of you will have the same reaction that my daughters did when I told them, namely, a long eye-roll followed by ‘Mummy, you’re soooooo sad.’
Anyway, it’s Susannah Harker. Who played Jane Bennett. In Pride and Prejudice! With Colin Firth!!! Yes, the one where he dives into the pool and comes out with his shirt all wet.
Just as well it’s not Colin himself who’s joined the class. I simply don’t think my heart could take it. As it is, with the lovely Susannah wafting around (she doesn’t look a day older, by the way, she’s beautiful) I feel I ought to be wearing a crinoline as I do my cat stretch and assume the box position.
Here, for all of you who love P and P too, is a little snippet of the glory that is the BBC version – the one true version for we afficionados. Oh, and the novel based on the series? Yep, Bridget Jones’s Diary.