Yes, Bridget Jones Has a Statue Now. No, You Are Not Dreaming.

London finally did something right. They put up a statue of Bridget Jones in Leicester Square, the city's unofficial shrine to film characters who defined entire eras. Harry Potter is there. Paddington is there. Mary Poppins is there. And now, the woman who went on disastrous dates, smoked too many cigarettes, wore enormous underwear, and still found a way to keep going. Bridget Jones finally joins the cinematic hall of fame.

The bronze statue was unveiled in today with Renée Zellweger herself standing right beside it, along with author Helen Fielding who created our chaotic queen twenty five years ago. The sculpture shows Bridget in a mini skirt holding her diary and pen, looking like she is about to make another wildly misguided resolution. In other words, it is perfect.

Walking through Leicester Square, you can feel why she belongs there. Bridget is one of the few rom-com characters who feels like she could exist in your group chat. She panics, she spirals, she embarrasses herself in front of her crush, then she dusts herself off and tries again. She is the kind of flawed heroine who makes you feel better about being a messy human being. 

The statue is also a reminder of just how massive this franchise actually is. People talk about superhero films conquering the box office, but Bridget Jones quietly built a nearly one billion dollar movie empire based on awkwardness and self-doubt. The character arrived long before Instagram filters, long before the term relatable became a marketing tool, and yet she managed to define a generation of women who felt like they could never get it quite right.

Seeing her celebrated in the middle of London feels like a kind of justice. The internet spent years turning her into memes, rewriting her diary entries, quoting every single joke from the first film. She became cultural shorthand for anyone trying to balance adulthood with romance and tacos. Now she stands in bronze, alongside fictional legends with capes, umbrellas, and magic wands. And somehow, the woman who once face planted while sliding down a fire pole fits right in.

There is also something hilarious and touching about the timing. This year marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of Bridget Jones's Diary, a film that aged shockingly well despite the early 2000s fashion choices. Renée Zellweger said the statue felt surreal, Helen Fielding seemed emotional, and everyone around them seemed to know that this was not just a tribute to a character. It was a tribute to the millions of people who saw themselves in her.

Most statues celebrate heroes who saved kingdoms or battled monsters. Bridget Jones survived blind dates, office humiliation, bad boyfriends, and family Christmases. Honestly, much harder.

If you ever loved the films, or even if you ever felt like a walking disaster trying to get your life together, go see the statue. Take a photo. Write something in your notes app. Maybe even celebrate the fact that being imperfect can still make you iconic.