Bridget Jones author Helen Fielding says she wants to smash the idea women have a 'sexual sell-by date' as her heroine embarks on romance with much younger man in new instalment

When the creator of Bridget Jones gave her heroine a romance with a much younger man, it was more than simply a storyline.

For Helen Fielding is hoping the latest film Mad About The Boy will smash the idea that women have a 'sexual sell-by date'.

The fourth instalment of Bridget Jones sees the lead character played by Renee Zellweger, 55, embark on a love affair with Roxster, played by 28-year-old Leo Woodall.

Speaking ahead of the film's release this week on Valentine's Day, Ms Fielding, 66, said: 'I really wanted to smash the idea with this movie that there's a sexual sell-by-date for women and not for men, and stick it to the awful cougar stereotype.

'It makes me think of a woman in animal print leering over a friend of my son's, going, 'Do you want a sherry, darling?'

'It's got to stop because it's really not reflecting what's happening.'

Speaking to The Sunday Times, she added: 'For years and years we've seen Hollywood show men 40 years older than their partners, and it's not even discussed.

'Now movies are finally exploring a desire between younger men and older women that's reciprocal, not transactional. 

Bridget and Roxster both see something they want in each other – and Bridget having sex and being sexy is to be celebrated.'

Last week Woodall, defended the relationship spanning such a wide age gap, saying he was pleased to see it on the big screen.

'When two people find the connection, why shouldn't they see where it goes without judgment?' he told

Stellar Magazine. 'Both dynamics should be equally normalised. It's a good thing that we're getting the reverse. Because it's not uncommon – it's just not portrayed much in movies.'

Speaking about the risk of being objectified in his role, which sees him falling into a swimming pool in a white shirt, Woodall said: 'In some ways it's part of the gig.

'But also, there are sides of it that can make you feel quite vulnerable and exposed. That side isn't as fun.'

Woodall made his name in hit series The White Lotus and Netflix drama One Day before becoming Bridget's latest paramour in the films which started in 2001 and were based on the newspaper column Ms Fielding wrote chronicling her life as a 30-something singleton.

'In the 1990s, if you were a single thirtysomething woman, you felt you were Miss Havisham… people were always asking why you weren't married,' Ms Fielding said.