Helen Fielding, BRIDGET JONES'S DIARY and BRIDGET JONES: MAD ABOUT THE BOY

Totally Booked with Zibby

Zibby Owens

Connection, Inspiration, Moms, Entertainment, Arts, Reading, Books, Parenting, Literary

4.4 • 602 Ratings

🗓️ 13 February 2025

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

NEW MOVIE OUT NOW! Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy

Helen Fielding, British journalist, novelist, screenwriter, and creator of the beloved fictional character Bridget Jones, joins Zibby to celebrate the 25th anniversary edition of BRIDGET JONES’S DIARY, the #1 bestselling book that defined the 20th century. Helen shares the unexpected origins of Bridget—born from an anonymous newspaper column written simply to pay the bills—and how her honest, exaggerated take on single life struck a universal chord. She and Zibby discuss humor as a coping mechanism, the changing landscape of workplace sexism, and why Bridget’s self-deprecating charm continues to resonate across generations. Helen also teases the upcoming film adaptation of Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, touching on how Bridget navigates love, loss, and aging with her signature wit.

Purchase on Bookshop:

Bridget Jones's Diary: https://bit.ly/4jUmiQW

Mad About the Boy: https://bit.ly/4hVpCcQ

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, this is Zibi Owens, and you're listening to Totally Booked with Zibby. Formerly, moms don't have time to read books. In my daily show, I interview today's latest, best-selling, buzziest, or underrated authors and story creators, whose work I think is worth your time. As a bookstore owner, publisher, author, and obviously podcaster, I get a comprehensive
0:24.0	look at everything that's coming out and spend my time curating the best books so you don't
0:29.3	have to.
0:30.3	Stay in the know, get insider insights, and connect with guests like I do every single day.
0:36.2	For more information, go to zibbimedia.com and follow me on Instagram at Zibby Owens.
0:44.5	Helen Fielding is the author of Bridget Jones's diary, which now has a 25th anniversary edition
0:51.2	coming out with even more Bridget, which you must get, and it's hilarious.
0:56.1	She's also the author of Bridget Jones, Matt About the Boy, which is coming out as a movie.
1:02.4	In addition, she wrote Bridget Jones The Edge of Reason and Bridget Jones's baby, The Diaries.
1:08.9	She was part of the screenwriting team on the Associated Movies and has two
1:12.4	children and lives in London and Los Angeles. This was a huge dream to do because, my gosh,
1:19.6	like everyone else in the world, I have been obsessed with Bridget Jones's diary forever, I guess for 25 years.
1:26.3	And wow, to talk to Helen directly was a huge thrill. And she was
1:30.9	just as charming, funny, and real as I had hoped. I hope you enjoy our episode. Welcome, Helen.
1:37.7	I am so excited to have you here on Totally Booked with Zivie to talk about Bridget Jones's
1:43.4	diary and your new anniversary edition
1:46.7	with even more Bridget. So thank you for that. We missed her, so that was awesome. Congrats.
1:52.2	It's great to be here. And it's sort of unbelievable that people are still reading and talking about
1:58.3	Bridgett, after all this time, I had literally no idea.
2:02.6	I started writing it as a newspaper column anonymously when I was trying to be a serious literary journalist and novelist.
2:12.0	And I just, they asked me to write a column as myself because I was like a single girl in my 30s in London
2:18.5	and the newspapers were full of columns about single girls and their sex lives and things.
	...

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