Bridget Jones is back with a baby so a plumper Renee Zellweger was always going to be pressed on those plastic surgery rumours that have plagued the A-list actress since October 2014.
But unlike Courtney Cox who has admitted “regret” over things she’s done to her face in the pursuit of everlasting youth, the 47-year-old actress remains tight-lipped about what procedures she did or didn’t have in the run up to the Elle Magazine Women In Hollywood event.
On a press tour for her third appearance as Bridget Jones, she told the Sydney Morning Herald: “She [Bridget] reminds us that outside of beauty everybody has something to contribute. And everybody has appeal in what they are as individuals.”
Now in the UK to promote the film alongside her very own Mark Darcy (Colin Firth), Renee claims that her fuller face, plumper cheeks and dewy complexion was down to her state of mind, not any cosmetic surgery or red-carpet perk-up procedures.
She told the Daily Mail: “I’d been staying with a friend in Los Angeles and the month before she’d been diagnosed with ALS [a neurological disease].
"The reason I went to that event was that she wanted me to go, so she could be on the red carpet with me and prove to herself she wasn’t being defeated by this terrible disease.
“And that’s what I was thinking about that day. I wasn’t thinking about what I looked like or what people thought. I was thinking about my friend.”
She goes on to say that youthful beauty isn’t a personal quest, despite persistent pressure from Hollywood studios to maintain a certain look. “I think a woman only gets more interesting as she gets older. Youth and superficial beauty have their place and that is, understandably, celebrated to a degree. But that’s so fleeting and it’s only for a moment in your life.
“As you mature, you’re not just getting older, you’re becoming more of who you are supposed to be, and becoming the best version of yourself, better and more interesting. It’s a more powerful beauty and it’s a more valuable beauty. Besides — I don’t want to stay the same! I’m curious about what comes next!”
We must admit that Renee looks fabulous at 47 and a lot like the Bridget Jones of old. No one would guess the gorgeous actress has her own big pants dilemmas or that she’s been kicking back watching Eastenders in preparation for the role. “If you only knew my inner dialogue when I’m at public events!” she says.
“I’m always like Bridget, always. There’s always something strange that happens that nobody knows about. The dress doesn’t fit right. Or the zipper broke and it’s been sewn up at the last moment.
“Or my shoe falls apart and I have to go on stage to present an Oscar, even though it’s taped together. I feel awkward all the time — I guess I just have to get used to it.”
Has Bridget remained faithful to English gent Mark Darcy, or has an American billionaire (played by the dapper Patrick Dempsey) caught her eye?
Bridget Jones’s Baby is released on September 16. Will you be watching? Tell us on Facebook and Twitter (@CloserOnline).