There are many things that run through both Sex And The City and its current incarnation And Just Like That... the fashion, the modern dating dilemmas - and the fact that every single episode has us talking, whether that is for good or for bad.

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When it came to the opening episode of And Just Like That... season three, we were primed to be talking about Carrie and Aidan, but the biggest subject of discussion across both sides of the Atlantic seems to be Miranda's fling with a virgin nun - called Mary, no less - played by Rosie O'Donnell.

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In an interview with Variety about the internet-breaking plotline, O'Donnell explained how she came to join the show, via her friendship with Cynthia Nixon, who plays Miranda.

'It was Cynthia,' she said. 'I’m good friends with Cynthia Nixon, and my daughter was actually her assistant on set for the last season of “Sex and” — of “And Just Like That.” I call it “Sex and the City 2,” but that’s not it. She put her on there, and then she said, “By the way, Michael [Patrick King, creator] told me that he has a role for you. Are you up for it?” I said, “Are you kidding me? In a minute!” I didn’t even have to think about it.'

Asked how she felt when she found out what that role was, O'Donnell said: 'I laughed my ass off. I thought — I know how to play this character.'

'I was very, very happy to be doing all my scenes with Cynthia. It was not acting for me. I don’t have to act in love with her, because I’ve been in love with her for many years. I saw her in Wit, on Broadway, and even though I had known her for very many years and was friends with her in a real way, when I went backstage, I was awestruck and couldn’t find my words.'

And while much has been made of the more comical sides of the character - and that Wicked moment - O'Donnell said she found elements of Mary relatable. When asked 'have you known people like Mary who are isolated from their sexuality, even as they get older?' she replied: 'I know many women who only come to in in their 40s, and how hard it is when they set up a life with a man and children, and then they come to realise this basic thing about themselves,' she said. 'I understand their struggle. It was a relatable character — somebody who, for all different reasons, wasn’t able to be in touch with who they were, and then came to find the beauty that awaits the rest of her life.'

And Just Like That is on Sky and in the UK and NOW TV.

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