Renée Zellweger

Bridget's grown up! Renee Zellweger gets to work on set

She won over a generation of women (and men) with her down-to-earth nature and, more often than not, endearingly unglamorous appearance, no matter what.

But it seems that Bridget Jones has undergone a mature makeover, as Renee Zellweger stepped out for filming on the third installment of the franchise in London on Monday looking decidedly chic.

Well, what else would you watch on Valentine's Day night? Whether you're a singleton or smug married, grab that tub of ice cream and snuggle down with this loveably rewatchable Brit comedy.

Bridget Jones, for anyone who's just arrived in Britain, is a mildly weight-obsessed, thirtysomething single woman with big mummy pants looking for love through a glass of Chardonnay.

She is portrayed, surprisingly well, by the normally size-zero US actress Renée Zellweger, who womanned up for the role by stuffing her face with pizza, Guinness, milk shakes and doughnuts. Talk about sacrifice for her art.

Anyway, the joy of this is watching Bridget's various, entirely relatable, mishaps and her mistakes with men, the lead contenders for her heart being Hugh Grant (dashing cad) and Colin Firth (uptight, haughty, dull).

The scene where they get it on - as in Hugh and Colin, as in having a big girlie fist fight - is a hands-down classic. YouTube it if you need a giggle.

Renée Zellweger returns as the thirtysomething with more frothy romantic shenanigans in an inferior sequel to the first film. Bridget, having spent "eight blissful weeks" in a relationship with dashing Mark Darcy (Colin Firth), is single again. But thankfully her ex, Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant) is at hand to provide distraction.

Keeping up with the Jones

What is it then that makes this female version of Mr Bean or Norman Wisdom so apparently appealing? It's partly because the audience knows that beneath the plump Bridget there is the svelte Renée Zellweger, an authentic Hollywood star putting on both weight and an English accent for our benefit.

No, I'm not Bridget Jones. Not yet

Renée Zellweger has done the unthinkable - shown a bit of cellulite on the big screen. Libby Brooks talks to the Texan star about women, body image and pizza