Sex And The City without Samantha Jones has been like toast without butter. Little wonder then, that her hotly anticipated cameo in last night’s finale of And Just Like That — the sequel to SATC — has caused such a stir.

Following a bitter six-year feud with Sarah Jessica Parker (SJP), who plays Carrie Bradshaw, Kim Cattrall had sworn never to play man-eating PR executive Samantha again. But earlier this year she was persuaded to reconsider after fans said the story of life and love in Manhattan just wasn’t the same without her.

Here, original SATC super fan CLAUDIA CONNELL gives her riotous take on Kim’s big comeback as the second series concluded and the other surprising twists in the final episode (spoiler alert!)

A VERY COSTLY CAMEO

Kim Cattrall was on screen for all of 60 seconds last night. It’s rumoured that the actress was paid $1 million (£790,000) to film the scene — and she speaks just 20 lines, working out at an impressive £13,166 per second of airtime.

According to Cattrall, the chief executive of TV network HBO called her and asked what it would take for her to return. Being styled by Patricia Field, the celebrated costume designer who worked on the original series, but not the reboot, was one of her asks.

Officially, Field was unavailable for the reboot due to working on Emily In Paris, but some suggested Field was not actually asked to do And Just Like That because SJP resented her close friendship with Cattrall and was punishing her.

Insisting on Field, who dressed Cattrall in a red dress, a gold coat and had her clutching a giant, oversized green bag, is perhaps Cattrall’s swipe back.

Cattrall also insisted on her make-up being done by celebrity cosmetic artist Kyra Panchenko and her hair by Ryan Trygstad — who gave her a new wispy fringe.

The scene was filmed in March in New York, taking four hours, after which Kim says she ‘went home and had a large Martini’, having not encountered a single one of her three former co-stars.

THE LAST SUPPER

Carrie Bradshaw may be SATC’s main character, but it’s Samantha Jones who became the fan’s firm favourite.

Over the course of six seasons of SATC, Carrie went from being a gutsy, independent sex columnist to a whinger with a shoe fetish who couldn’t seem to function without a man. 

But bed-hopping, toy boy loving, child-free by choice Samantha always stayed true to herself.

And 60 seconds was all it took for Kim Cattrall to bring the sparkle, warmth and a star quality to And Just Like That it has lacked for nearly two years. 

Smiling as she sees Samantha’s name flash on her phone screen, ‘Hello London, what’s shakin’ lady?’ asks Carrie as she takes the call.

Having intended to be a surprise guest at the ‘last supper’ party Carrie is hosting to say goodbye to her bachelorette flat, Samantha — calling from her car — tells her friend that she won’t be able to make it after all, due to flight delays. Asking to go on loud speaker so she can say her own goodbye to Carrie’s famous home, she puts on a fake English accent and trills, ‘thanks for everything you f*****g fabulous, fabulous flat’.

And just like that she was off, leaving us to assume she probably slept with the chauffeur before heading out to dinner with her new British girlfriends.

THE NEW MR RIGHT?

In series two of And Just Like That, Carrie reignites her romance with Aidan Shaw, the furniture maker she first dated in SATC’s series three. 

She broke his heart by cheating on him with Big and, later, breaking off their engagement. Carrie tells Miranda that this time around sex with divorced father-of-three Aidan is the best she’s ever had and she’s started to think that ‘Big was a big mistake’.

But just as she’s about to move into the new, four-bedroom duplex she plans to share with Aidan, he arrives in New York to tell her they have to put their relationship on hold for five years. His troubled youngest son needs him.

He returns to Norfolk, Virginia, breaking Carrie’s heart just as she did to him two decades earlier.

CRAZY CAT LADY

Carrie becomes a doting ‘mum’ to a tabby kitten that she names Shoe. Yes, really! 

Shoe sleeps in a Manolo Blahnik shoe box. The kitten was part of a litter that had been abandoned and taken to the veterinary practice where Che, Miranda’s (non-binary) ex, works. Is she set to become a crazy cat lady?

SPANX SILLINESS

Earlier in the series, annoyingly ditsy Charlotte York (Kristin Davis) makes the decision to return to work full-time. Charlotte purchases a chic, black lace Prada dress to wear to her first day in her new job at an art gallery, but it’s tight on her stomach.

She tries a bone broth crash diet, but can’t shift the pounds. Instead, 22 years after Bridget Jones made big knickers famous, she squeezes herself into body-control underwear that’s so restricting she can barely walk. 

Arriving at the gallery, she’s greeted by a 20-something, plus-size assistant, wearing a crop top. 

In a highly contrived scene, a liberated Charlotte runs to the bathroom to rip off her Spanx to let her tiny tummy take centre stage.

WORST PARTY EVER

As good luck would have it, Carrie wins a raffle prize for a chef to cook dinner for her and her pals. She decides to hold a ‘last supper’ at her flat before she moves.

The table is decorated with roses and linen napkins bearing Carrie’s initials. As she uses her kitchen for extra clothes storage, the chef cooks at a neighbour’s place. 

Seated around the table, she asks her guests say one word that represents something they want to let go of.

‘Guilt’ says Miranda. ‘Limits’ says Charlotte. ‘Shoes’ says Carrie. Not really, especially given her new pet’s name. She goes for ‘expectations’.

MESSED-UP MIRANDA

Miranda’s estranged husband Steve spoke for us all in the final episode when he says ‘you’re not going to flip and be straight again are you?’ after meeting up with his ex, who ditched him for Che in the first series of And Just Like That.

Once the fiercest, most successful of the characters, Miranda’s turned into an insecure, bumbling midlife Mr Bean. 

Describing herself as a ‘sexually confused alcoholic,’ she’s single for the second half of this series after splitting with Che.

Working as an intern at a human rights charity, the former hotshot lawyer seems lost … until she meets plummy BBC producer Joy (Dolly Wells) who looks set to be her love interest in the next series.

SEEMA: THE NEW SAM?

Outspoken, successful and with an insatiable sex drive, real estate broker Seema Patel (Sarita Choudhury) has helped fill the void that Samantha left behind.

She became besties with Carrie after selling the apartment she shared with Big. In this series, she becomes involved with film director Ravi and — in true Samantha style — has sex with him in the master bedroom of the multi-million-dollar flat she’s showing him.

She even gets the honour of sharing the finale’s last scene with Carrie. Relaxing on sun loungers on a Greek island, the two women are seen sipping Cosmopolitans — the cocktail SATC made famous.

Rose Leslie showcased her growing baby bump as she enjoyed a walk with her sister, Portia, in London on Wednesday.

Despite getting getting closer to her due date, the Game Of Thrones actress, 36, showed no signs of slowing down as she stepped out for some fresh air.  

Rose, who played Ygritte in the HBO fantasy series, looked stylish in a floral green dress paired with brown sandals while she toted a black shoulder bag.

She sported a radiant pregnant glow as she went makeup free, while her auburn locks were tied into a slicked-back bun. 

The star appeared in good spirits as she wrapped her arm around her sibling, who looked equally chic in striped linen trousers and a matching red top.

Elsewhere in the city, Rose’s husband Kit Harington was busy running errands as he made an outing of his own.  

The actor, 36, donned a white T-shirt and matching shorts as he stepped out in north London.

Enjoying the summer weather, he took his blue cardigan off and carried it over his shoulder.

He kept his look casual with a pair of white trainers and donned a stylish pair of sunglasses.

He appeared relaxed and at ease as he stopped for a coffee and strolled with his Airpods in his ears.

Kit announced he and Rose were expecting their second child together during an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon in February. 

The couple have not confirmed the name of their first son or his birthdate. Rose was seen visibly pregnant in September 2020 and their son was first spotted in February 2021.

Speaking about his firstborn, Kit said: ‘He is about the get the shock of his life, which is that he’s about to get a brother or sister.’ 

He continued: ‘You know with the first baby, you’re like, walking on clouds and dancing through fields and daisies for nine months? Well, the man is anyway.

‘This time, the reality check comes much shorter and you get practical, like, real quick.’

Kit then said he and Rose have been trying to explain to their toddler that he is going to have a sibling but he ‘doesn’t quite conceptually understand it just yet’.

He said: ‘We are trying to get him ready for it and we point at Rose’s belly and we say, “Mummy’s baby, mummy’s baby”, and he points at his tummy and goes, “My baby, my baby”.’

Kit previously called being a parent ‘the most physically draining thing’ he has ever done.

Speaking to The Weekend Australian, he said: ‘Like, honestly, my back is wrecked. I go to the gym quite a bit, but there’s something about having a child that is the most physically draining thing,’ he said.

The actor went on to praise single parents saying: ‘I don’t know how you do it. Because it’s more exhausting than everything I did on Thrones.’

Elsewhere the actor he is ‘happy’ and ‘content’ with his life since becoming a father.

‘I have a child and my relationship is brilliant… I’m a very, very happy, content, sober man,’ he said, referring to his past battle with alcohol addiction.

Kit and Rose met while filming their hit HBO show Game of Thrones and began dating in 2011.

They announced their engagement in The Times newspaper in September 2017 and married the following June in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. 

Former Bills punter Matt Araiza said he plans to sue attorney Dan Gilleon for defamation in regard to a civil lawsuit filed by the lawyer that alleged the player took part in a gang rape.

Araiza was released by the Bills last August after he was accused of raping a 17-year-old girl along with two of his former San Diego State football teammates near the school’s campus in the fall of 2021.

However, last month, it was concluded by the DA’s office that Araiza was apparently not present during the alleged 2021 gang rape. There is, however, an ongoing civil lawsuit that remains active.

Now, speaking on HBO‘s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel on Tuesday night, Araiza revealed he has retained an attorney and will not settle the pending civil lawsuit, as he intends to sue Gilleon for defamation. 

‘I’ve already hired an attorney for it, and things have already been drafted,’ Araiza told HBO’s Andrea Kremer. ‘I will never waive my right to sue him. That’s coming.’

Gilleon, who was also interviewed on the program, insisted Araiza hadn’t necessarily been absolved of liability when asked about the conclusion by the DA’s office that the player had left the party at the time of the alleged gang rape. 

‘We are not saying that he was, and we are not saying that he wasn’t,’ Gilleon said. ‘Let’s say he was not one of the men in there. That doesn’t absolve him of liability.’ 

The new theory reportedly put forward by Gilleon on the program is that Araiza was ‘part of a scheme among several men to target his client, to get her drunk and to take turns having sex with her over the course of the night.’

However, this theory was not included in the original complaint. 

‘Our allegation is, is he contributed heavily to the harm that she suffered that night,’ Gilleon said. 

‘He had sex with my client. Following that, she ended up having sex with multiple guys and came out of there bloodied, in shock.

‘Ended up at the hospital, ended up with the police, and ended up traumatized. So that’s what I mean by the gang rape. Gang rapes can occur for two days. They can occur over time. They can occur multiple places. So that’s the clarification.’ 

Araiza, who said he was in shock when he first read the initial complaint, told HBO he was sure he ‘had never played part in any gang rape.’

He did admit he had sex with the girl but said he believed it to be consensual as he claimed the contact had been initiated by her and that she had ‘made her intentions clear.’

Araiza, who is currently living at home with his parents, did admit that sleeping with the girl only 15-20 minutes after meeting her was ‘stupid’ but insisted it wasn’t deserving of being labeled a ‘gang rapist’ by the media.

He also claimed he was judged in the court of public opinion ‘within seconds’ with no chance to defend himself. 

In May, Yahoo Sports reported on a 200-page unsealed document including a transcript of a conversation where a deputy district attorney told the girl, who at the time of the alleged incident was 17, why charges against Araiza were not pursued.

The DA’s office had apparently concluded that Araiza had left the party in San Diego at 12:30am on the night of October 15, 2021 – around an hour before the gang rape is alleged to have happened that Araiza was accused of participating in.

‘He wasn’t even at the party anymore,’ Trisha Amador is quoted as telling the girl by Yahoo. ‘All I know is that at that point, suspect Araiza is gone from the party.’

The report added that there are recordings of the encounter with the girl where the time stamp is 1:30am. Araiza apparently had a witness that helped prosecutors conclude that he had left around an hour earlier.

In February this year, Araiza’s agent denied that he was signing with a Mexican team in a bid to revive his career and said his client hopes for another chance in the NFL.

He was released by the Bills in late August, amid the allegations and mounting public pressure, despite winning the starting job in training camp. 

The Ray Guy Award Winner – given to the best punter in college football – was a sixth-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft and beat out veteran Matt Haack to be the Bills punter. 

When the lawsuit became public on August 26, Buffalo initially defended Araiza, before eventually cutting the then-22-year-old two days later. 

General manager Brandon Beane said the organization was aware of Araiza’s version of events prior to bringing him to Orchard Park. 

Brian Cox has claimed his character was written out of Succession too soon, with the star saying he took it as a form of rejection.

The actor, 76, played Logan Roy in HBO drama and Brian insists the decision to kill Logan off in the third episode of the fourth and final series of the show was ‘ultimately too early’.

While Brian admits Logan’s end was done ‘in a pretty brilliant way’, he added he took it ‘wrongly, as a form of rejection’.

Speaking on BBC Two’s Amol Rajan Interviews, Brian said: ‘I was fine with it ultimately, but I did feel a little bit rejected. 

‘You know, I felt a little bit, oh, all the work I’ve done and finally I’m going to, you know, end up as an ear on a carpet of a plane.’

Brian told how he filmed several funeral scenes more than a year and a half ago and was told he was no longer needed to film false scenes of Logan service.

Show bosses had planned to film were planning to film false scenes so paparazzi would not suspect it was Logan who had died.

Despite being told he would not be required, Brian went ‘on [his] own volition’ to the location where the funeral was being filmed.

And Brian thinks Logan could actually still be alive, with the star telling Amol: ‘I still believe this, maybe Logan isn’t dead.

‘This could be part of an elaborate ruse to find out. Well, if you think about it, from Logan’s point of view, he has to find out, how are his children going to behave when he dies, what will then happen? 

‘And the only way to do that is to fake his death and actually, at some distant point he’s observing the chaos that is following.’

When asked if he is saying Logan does in fact come back from the dead, Brian respnded: ‘No […] I’m just saying that could have been a supposition.’

It comes after Succession fans descended into a frenzy after learning Sunday’s blockbuster funeral episode featured a surprise cameo.

The penultimate episode of the HBO series saw Logan Roy’s family come together to attend his funeral following his death six episodes earlier.

Among those in attendance were many of Logan’s former mistresses, also sat in a row ready to pay their respects.

Fans were quick to notice that one of the mistresses was being played by star Brian Cox’s real wife Nicole Ansari-Cox.

In the episode, Nicole took on the role of Sally-Ann, who was introduced by Lady Caroline (Harriet Walter).

The apt cameo of Brian’s real-life spouse as one of his many exes sent fans into a frenzy, with many flooding social media with their reactions.

One tweeted: ‘OMG so Sally-Anne *is* Brian Cox’s real wife!’ while another added: ‘The fact they snuck Brian Cox’ real life wife into #Succession as one of his side pieces is brilliant.’

One added: ‘I am actually obsessed that they got Nicole Ansari (Brian Cox’s wife) to play Sally-Anne.’ 

‘Brian Cox’s real life wife playing Sally-Anne had me screaming,’ one fan added.

In the penultimate episode of Succession, Season Four Episode Nine saw the stars of the show convene for Logan’s funeral.

Sunday’s much-anticipated series finale will finally bring an answer to the burning question: Who will land Logan’s vast fortune?

Earlier this year, Brian revealed he and wife Nicole renewed their wedding vows in a surprise Vegas ceremony.

Speaking on Live With Kelly and Ryan, the actor revealed: ‘We’d actually been apart for a while — she’d been traveling — and then we sat down and we said, ‘Where do we go from here? Do we finish or do we go on? And we thought, ”Well let’s go on and get married”.’

Across social media, users lauded James Cromwell’s magnificent performance as Ewan, and the cold, hard truths he laid out in his eulogy to Logan.

‘That speech Ewan gave at Logan’s funeral,’ one user said. ‘Chills. James Cromwell is a master at his craft. The fact that he did that performance while going through long-COVID is extraordinary. Wonderfully written by Jesse Armstrong.’

Another used said, ‘The Roy sibs aside, let no one neglect the magnificent one-speech performance of James Cromwell as Logan’s brother killing him a second time in his funeral speech,’ adding that ‘the writing also was mind-wrecking.’

One user said that Ewan’s speech was ‘one of the BEST scenes in all of Succession,’ while another said that Cromwell ‘DOMINATED that scene, and it was clear that everyone (especially the kids) got to know more about Logan in death than they ever did in life.’

Said one user: ‘Logan’s brother, Ewan (played by James Cromwell) humanized Logan, telling of the abuse he suffered as a child. But he did not excuse his behavior as an adult. He gave the full measure of the man.’

The full interview, Brian Cox: Amol Rajan Interviews, is on BBC Two on Thursday 25th May at 7pm and BBC iPlayer.

Succession’s final episode will air on HBO on Sunday. It will air on Sky Atlantic in the UK on Monday. 

Robert Downey Jr. and his 11-year-old son Exton star in a new trailer for his HBO Max reality show Downey’s Dream Cars.

The 58-year-old Hollywood heartthrob is seen early on showing off his formidable collection of vintage automobiles largely from the 1960s and 1970s.

Now, with the help of professionals, he has embarked on the task of lovingly restoring them in an eco-friendly manner – and the process will unfold onscreen.

His plucky young son is on hand to cut the beloved movie star down to size whenever his ego begins to run away with him.

As Robert brags about being a ‘gearhead’ and a ‘grease monkey,’ Exton slyly turns to the camera and asks: ‘Are we sure he’s the right guy to be hosting this show?’

Robert takes the jabs with good humor, melting into laughter when his little pride and joy calls his compere abilities into question.

Near the start of the trailer he introduces his audience to his longtime love of old cars, particularly the ones made during his childhood.

‘The cars of the ’60s and ’70s just make your heart beat a little faster,’ he gushed. ‘As a red-blooded American boy, I wanted in.’ 

While his movie career got off to a turbulent start, derailed at one point by his addictions, he launched a galloping comeback and earned a fortune.

He has now ‘amassed a collection’ of cars, and as ‘an idea man,’ he has now ‘enlisted a team of folks to restore my cars in ways that are less harmful to the planet.’ 

Robert’s eco-friendly idea of restoration is to convert the cars into being either hybrid or possibly in some cases entirely electric. 

One of the professionals marvels that a particular vehicle is ‘almost too nice to mess with,’ but Robert is determined that he ‘can’t leave it alone.’

However before he gets carried away with his perception of his own expertise, little Exton arrives to bring him back to earth. 

As the pair sit down to oysters together, Robert begins using the food on the table to try and demonstrate the work he is having done.

‘This is a clue, you’ll never guess – ‘ Robert starts, holding up a French fry, but Exton is way ahead of him, saying: ‘It’s a biodiesel conversion.’ 

Exton is not the only person to be unimpressed, as becomes clear when the Iron Man heartthrob sets off to buy a vintage car in person.

Despite the fact that any seller who sees a rich famous film star will be unwilling to come down on the price, Robert insists on effecting the transaction himself. 

After the meeting, the seller shoots a confessional where he is asked if he recognizes his prospective client and replies with a laugh: ‘Yes, Rodney.’ 

Robert, who shares Exton with his movie producer wife Susan, will see the premiere of his new show on HBO Max June 22.