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‘Sex and the City’ Writer Candace Bushnell Reveals She Briefly Dated 1 of the Show’s Leading Men

The dating diaries! Sex and the City’s Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) wasn’t the only woman romanced by the show’s leading men — Candace Bushnell was once taken out by one of Carrie’s loves.

Related: 'Sex and the City' Men: Where Are They Now?

Bushnell, 61, who wrote the 1997 book the HBO series is based on, recalled going out on one date with John Corbett, who played Aidan Shaw. The relationship, however, was shortlived thanks to the author’s mom and her opinion of his onscreen persona.

“I did go to dinner with John Corbett,” the author recalled on the Thursday, August 20, episode of “The Bradshaw Boys” podcast. “I went out to dinner with him, it was romantic, [but] all I could think was, ‘My mother’s gonna kill me.’”

Sex and the City Writer Candace Bushnell Reveals She Briefly Dated One of the Show Leading Men
Candace Bushnell Greg Allen/Invision/AP/Shutterstock

The Connecticut native’s mother disliked Corbett’s character Aidan — who was Carrie’s furniture-building fiancé at one point in the series — so much that Bushnell’s real-life romance with the actor never had a chance.

“I’m never gonna be Team Aiden for Carrie,” Bushnell said. “I can’t for a variety of reasons but one of the reasons was that my mother hated Aidan.”

Related: ‘Sex and the City’ Drama Through the Years: A Timeline

Throughout the series, which ran from 1998 to 2004, Carrie is in an on-again, off-again relationship with John James Preston a.k.a. Mr. Big (Chris Noth). She later falls for Aidan, but the two eventually split and Carrie is drawn back to Mr. Big — who she weds in the 2008 Sex and the City film.

Sex and the City Writer Candace Bushnell Reveals She Briefly Dated One of the Show Leading Men 2
John Corbett and Sarah Jessica Parker on Sex and The City Hbo/Darren Star Productions/Kobal/Shutterstock

From the moment the love triangle was introduced to fans, viewers have been split between being Team Big or Team Aidan. Bushnell, whose column for The New York Observer led to the SATC book, might not be Team Aidan, but the show’s leading lady has a soft spot for the man behind the character.

“There is a very quick and simple answer: You have to be Team Big or Team John [Corbett],” Parker, 55, said on a January episode of “The Bradshaw Boys” podcast. “I guess, only because you can’t tell a story that long and not in the most conventional way kind of root for that ending. And I love Chris Noth so much.”

Related: ‘Sex and the City’ Cast: Where Are They Now?

More than two decades after the show first aired, the Hocus Pocus star concluded that she loves both actors, personally, but Carrie should’ve been with the wealthy businessman.

“I loved [Corbett’s] Aidan,” she continued. “The best of both worlds is in fact having your cake and eating it too. So I feel like I got both teams. Ultimately, Carrie should have ended up with Big, but it was a delight to mess around before she arrived at that.”

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