Candace Bushnell Is Proud to Be ‘One of the Few’ Fans of Che on ‘AJLT’

Candace Bushnell thinks And Just Like That has found its footing in season 2 — and is a proud defender of the Che-Miranda story arc that has prompted so much online discourse.

“I’m really enjoying this season,” Bushnell, 64, exclusively told Us Weekly while promoting her one-woman show, True Tales of Sex, Success and Sex and the City. “I think they had some kinks that they had to work out. It had been a long time, obviously, since the original Sex in the City ended.I’m invested in the characters. I always want to see what’s going to happen. I love the new characters. I think I’m one of the few people who likes Che.”

Bushnell’s column in the New York Observer served as the inspiration for the bestselling Sex and the City anthology book series, which was later turned into a TV series by Darren Star that ran on HBO from 1998 to 2004. The show followed BFFs Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), Miranda (Cynthia Nixon), Samantha (Kim Cattrall) and Charlotte (Kristin Davis) throughout their dating lives in the Big Apple. After six seasons, two subsequent movies and a prequel on The CW, the women of SATC returned for the Max spinoff in 2021.

While highly anticipated, And Just Like That initially spawned intense debates and criticism. In addition to fans wanting the character of Samantha to return to the breakfast table with her gal pals, some argued the characters didn’t feel connected to their old selves — especially Cynthia Nixon’s Miranda, who leaves husband Steve (David Eigenberg) in season 1 for nonbinary comedian Che, portrayed by Sara Ramirez.

While many have reacted negatively to the character of Che— The Daily Beast called them “the worst character on TV” in January 2022 —claiming their comedy isn’t funny or that they are a negative influence on Miranda, Bushnell feels the journey for both Che and Miranda reads as authentic.

“What happened to Miranda is not an uncommon thing that happens in real life, which is something that you understand when you get to be a certain age,” Bushnell explained of the character exploring her sexuality. “I’ve seen people like really change a lot when they’re in their 50s or even 60s. They really take a new tack on their life.”

While the debates surrounding the show may be heated, Bushnell, for her part, is just happy to see fans still so interested in the SATC characters. “I love the fact that other people are so invested in the show and that they really wanna discuss it. I think that’s fantastic,” she told Us.

Bushnell, meanwhile, is polishing her Manolos as she prepares to take over Canoe Place in Hampton Bays, New York, with her one-woman show next month. Bushnell is having a blast, but it wasn’t something she expected would “snowball” in the way it has. 

“We [first] did it out of town at the Bucks County Playhouse [in New Hope, Pennsylvania], which was amazing,” she said.“And then I did it at the Darrell Roth Theater off-Broadway, which was incredible. I had costume changes. There was a staff, like people helped me dress. Like, it took two people for me to change my shoes and it was fantastic.” Next, she’ll be taking the performance on the road to placesincludingPalm Beach, Florida; Hartford, Connecticut; England; and South Africa later this year. 

The project was bred from the COVID-19 pandemic and features a whirlwind of remarkable personal stories of fashion, literature and sex, of which Bushnell has plenty. On one of her “crazier” romantic adventures, the author found herself dating both a 21-year-old and a 60-year-old in the same week.

“There’s a super fun game called Real or Not Real because everything that happened in the TV show is a little better or worse than my real life,” she told Us. “Like some of the guys who Carrie dates … I tell the story of how I came to New York and crazy things that happened to me. … And then how I created Sex in the City, how hard I worked to get there, why I invented Carrie Bradshaw and what happened to me afterward.”

True Tales of Sex, Success and Sex and the City will take place at Canoe Place in Hampton Bays, New York, on Thursday, August 17^, at 8:00 p.m. ET.

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Reporting by Christina Garibaldi