Bridget is BACK! Svelte Renée Zellweger is spotted on set of fourth Bridget Jones movie for FIRST TIME... after bosses revealed 'obsession' with character's weight will be dropped

Renée Zellweger was spotted on the set of the fourth Bridget Jones film, Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy, for the first time on the streets of London this week. 

The actress, 55, who has starred as the unlucky-in-love diarist in all three of the movies, beamed while strolling the streets - looking notably slender in the wake of news about bosses insistence they would drop the 'obsession' with her weight. 

She flaunted her famously smooth complexion while strolling along in a green sheath dress with a cardigan and a fluffy coat worn on top, while Sally Phillips - who plays Bridget's best friend Shazza - was also seen on set. 

The commencement of shooting comes on the heels of sheer delight from fans after the announcement of the beloved character's return to the big screen.  

She first appeared as Bridget in 2001's Bridget Jones' Diary and returned in 2004's Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason and 2016's Bridget Jones' Baby.

The appearance comes just one month after the movie was confirmed, with Renée and Hugh Grant's comebacks made official - after his love rat character Daniel Cleaver's death was falsified in 2016's third installment. 

The fourth movie in the franchise - based on the books by Helen Fielding - will be released by Universal film on US platform Peacock on Valentine’s Day 2025 while internationally, the flick will be released in cinemas.

Emma Thompson - who played Doctor Rawlings in the last film, is also back, with Chiwetel Ejiofor and White Lotus star Leo Woodall also set to star.

A movie source told The Mail On Sunday in February: 'Bridget is back and is about to take over London. Filming is being mapped out already...

'All of the pre- production is in place. There was some uncertainty about whether it would get off the ground, but the movie is coming...

'Renee is excited about bringing Bridget back. She adores the character so much. Bridget Jones fever is expected to sweep across London this spring.'

It was revealed last month that Bridget's obsession with losing weight will be 'played down' in the film after protests she might be a bad influence. She takes up Zumba and as a size 10 won't panic over putting on a pound or two, as she has done before.

'We will be more reflective of what people think about body image these days,' said a source involved with the film. 'Letting go of Bridget's weight obsession is seen as the right thing to do.'

It is thought to be the first time that Renee has not put on pounds for the role. 

Bridget was routinely fat-shamed in both the original books by Helen Fielding and the first film, despite weighing just over 61 kg - the same size as the average British woman at the time.

Renée gained weight twice to play the size 12 heroine - once in 2001 for Bridget Jones's Diary and again in 2004 for the sequel The Edge of Reason - before her character reached her 'ideal weight' in the third film, albeit briefly before falling pregnant.

The core premise of Bridget Jones's Diary, the first film in the series, is that Bridget is fat and Zellweger hit the headlines for gaining just over two stone to play the character.

The actress admitted to struggling to gain the weight for the role and was reported to be on a 4,000-calorie-per-day diet to reach the target quickly.

She told The New York Times: 'I'd have an omelette with cheese and sauce for breakfast with a fatty yoghurt and then a fruit salad with a topping and juice and coffee and cream and a bagel with butter and a few hours later a chocolate shake with weight-gain powder in it.'

 The most recent film saw Bridget shocked when she found out she was pregnant.

It ended with her marrying Mark, the high-flying lawyer who she'd had on and off feelings for across the three movies. It was also revealed that he was the father to her baby.

Hugh didn't appear in that movie as Daniel was presumed dead at the beginning. At the end, though, there was a newspaper report that said he had been found alive.

A book based on that story was published after the film, and after the Mad About The Boy novel, although it was set earlier. In Mad About The Boy, Mark Darcy is dead, leaving Bridget a widow, although it is not known if the movie will be faithful to that.

When asked about a fourth movie instalment, author Helen previously told Radio Times: 'Every film that gets made is a miracle...

'I think it's really difficult to make films and to make them happen and to make them good and we want it to be really good. But I really hope so. I'd love to see it on the screen.'

There were rumours last year the movie had been axed due to the US actors' strikes, but sources said those claims were 'nonsense'.

The first film, Bridget Jones's Diary, came out in 2001 and grossed £222 million at the box office – more than ten times what it cost to make. Ms Zellweger's last film was the 2019 biopic of Judy Garland.