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John Corbett may be heading back to Sex and the City revival And Just Like That… after all.
A Friday report from Deadline is sparking fresh speculation that the 61-year-old actor will once again step into Aidan Shaw’s well-worn boots. (Reps for Corbett and HBO Max did not immediately return PEOPLE’s request for comment.)
Corbett previously said back in April 2021 that he would reprise his role as the ex-fiancé of Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) in season 1 of the revival. But in a different interview with Deadline earlier this year, And Just Like That… executive producer Michael Patrick King and writers Elisa Zuritsky and Julie Rottenberg insisted Corbett’s return was never a part of the plan.
“John Corbett should be writing personal apology notes,” Rottenberg told the outlet after the show’s season 1 finale. “We didn’t say anything.”
RELATED: Sex and the City Revival And Just Like That… Renewed for Season 2 at HBO Max: ‘Can’t Wait’
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Asked whether the Aidan-Carrie narrative is “old news,” King said, “No, there’s nothing old news about Sarah Jessica Parker and John Corbett as actors and beings and interests.”
“The fact of the matter is, we never said anything about Aidan, just like we never said, Steve [David Eigenberg] and Carrie [are] getting together,” King continued. “We always try to be very restrained and look at the reality of what people are experiencing and it has nothing to do with Aidan coming or not coming. It really just felt like this was a lot for Carrie.”
Added King, “This season was a lot. We wanted to get her through this and into the light — the last episode is called ‘Seeing the Light.’ We wanted to get her out. [Aidan’s return] is a big storyline that everybody at home wrote that we had never intended.”
RELATED: John Corbett Kept All the Clothing He Wore on Sex and the City — Including Those Tighty-Whities
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And Just Like That… has continued to follow the evolving love lives of Carrie, Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) and Charlotte (Kristin Davis) since SATC first introduced the characters in 1998.
Nearly 20 years after the original show’s finale, AJLT‘s creators and stars believe it has continued to connect with audiences.
Parker told VOGUE last December that the show is “about finding friendships that matter, looking for work that fulfills you, and pursuing love, even when it drags you, bloodied, down the street.”
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All six seasons of Sex and the City and season 1 of And Just Like That… are available to stream on HBO Max.
