With the Sex and The City spin-off And Just Like That back on our screens for a third season, everyone is talking about our favourite characters, and what could be next for Carrie Bradshaw, Charlotte York, and Miranda Hobbes.

But with the show having been around since 1998, lots of people are also reflecting on SATC’s past. In a recent interview, Sarah Jessica Parker has addressed the harsh comments she received about her looks during the early days of Sex and The City. Speaking on the latest episode of Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy podcast, Parker explained that the discussions about her physical appearance were the ‘hardest.’

When asked by Alex Cooper if there were any comments that impacted bothered her, Sarah said that it was ‘just discussions of my physical person.’ She continued: ‘Like, stuff that I couldn’t change and wouldn’t change and had never considered changing, or still even after hearing something that was like, “What? Somebody would say that?” – even still, no interest in changing it,’ adding ‘I didn’t feel like it was actually a conversation.’

Parker didn’t call out any names or publications in particular. However, she did discuss an incident when she broke down after reading a particularly nasty article that mocked her appearance. ‘It was brought to my attention that a magazine said something really mean about who I am, how I look,’ she explained. ‘And it was like a kick in the rubber parts. I was just like, ‘Why is this a problem? Why do you seem to delight in saying it?’ And I called two of my friends and I was sobbing because it felt so purposeful.’

She added that was the only time she ‘really cried’ about it, calling it ‘an accumulation of maybe a season of that kind of commentary.’ She called the criticisms ‘a real test of my coping mechanisms’ because she ‘wasn’t prepared for public commentary, and I think that was really unpleasant at times.’

Before bringing back Carrie on AJLT, Parker played the fictional sex columnist on SATC from 1998 to 2004, and in two films that came from the hit series. Although originally intended to be a limited mini-series, two seasons later And Just Like That has become a staple on our screens. Although the show was initially met with mixed reviews, season three has hit the ground running. The show has already got hit ratings on Rotten Tomatoes, becoming the highest-ranked season so far. Many reviews are saying season three has finally found its footing as a proper sequel to the original show.

Season three sees Carrie coming to terms with long-distance love with Aidan, Miranda navigating her newfound independence and exploring new relationships, and Charlotte continuing to try and strike a balance between motherhood and career.

This isn’t the first time that Parker has addressed negative comments. In a 2014 interview with Harper’s Bazaar, Parker discussed how she remains down to earth by not listening to her critics.

‘I don’t read anything,’ she told Harper’s Bazaar. ‘I don’t Google myself. Good God, no! I have absolutely no constitution for that. I’m curious about everything, except what people have to say about me. It’s the random cruelty I really don’t understand. It’s not good for us. I don’t know, you know, how we go back in time to a better place.’

However, the huge popularity of SATC – which still endures today – meant lots of people were drawn to Carrie, who became a role model for all kinds of women. In the interview with Harper’s Bazaar, Parker admitted people loved Carrie because ‘she was a really good friend.’

She told the outlet: ‘It’s kind of surprising to say, but in a way [Sex and the City] was a more innocent time,’ she said. ‘I think so much reality television – and the women that dominate culture today – are pretty unfriendly towards one another. They use language that’s really objectionable and cruel and not supportive. I like to remember that Carrie and the other woman in Sex and the City were really nice to each other.’

And with Carrie being one of the many show’s characters we have known and loved since 1998 – she has a point. There’s no denying that the enduring appeal of SATC stands the test of time