JANET STREET-PORTER: Ignore the fat-shamers, Nicola - you're Bridgerton's most gorgeous and talented star. So why don't the trolls start looking at all the MALE film and TV characters in 'mixed-weight relationships'?

Once, again, a famous woman is being discussed like a lump of meat in a supermarket.

It's hard to believe that in 2024 the star of a ground-breaking television drama is being singled out for derision because of her size - because she's curvy and can probably match her male co-star kilo for kilo on the scales. The hot affair between Lady Penelope Featherington and posh Colin Bridgerton in Season Three of the hit show has been described as a 'mixed weight romance' and tagged 'implausible' by some critics. Enraged feminists and fans have taken to social media to vent their fury, asking why shouldn't plus-size women have great sex? And why do fat-phobic critics pick on larger ladies?

For an actress as talented as Nicola Coughlan, size shouldn't matter - she lights up the screen whenever she appears and the bubbly Derry Girls actress is (for me anyway) the main reason to watch the new series of Bridgerton. The 'Ton's secret gossip-queen's hot romance with the tall, charming Colin Bridgerton has caused a huge amount of comment, and even been labelled 'a plotline which defies convention'. In other words, this is something that would never happen in the real world, it's a fairy story, a politically-correct fantasy. It's certainly rare.

Bridgerton's creator, Shonda Rhimes deliberately set out to break conventional stereotypes with her colour-blind casting, which has been gloriously successful. The show is packed with beautiful people of all shapes, sizes and skin colours. So why is Nicola being singled out for derision? In a recent article in Spectator Magazine writer Zoe Stimpel described the actress as 'not hot' and said it was 'not plausible' that Penelope 'would catch the handsome, rich aristocrat Colin Bridgerton's eye in that way'. Zoe pulled no punches, brutally describing Nicola as simply 'fat'.

JANET STREET-PORTER: Once, again, a famous woman is being discussed like a lump of meat in a supermarket

For an actress as talented as Nicola Coughlan (right), size shouldn't matter - she lights up the screen whenever she appears and the bubbly Derry Girls actress is (for me anyway) the main reason to watch the new series of Bridgerton

Bridgerton's creator, Shonda Rhimes deliberately set out to break conventional stereotypes with her colour-blind casting, which has been gloriously successful. Pictured: Janet Street-Porter

It's as if the sight of a larger woman shedding her clothes in impulsive lust with a slimmer man is not just unbelievable, but somehow threatening. In the latest issue of Forbes Magazine, body mass expert Virgie Tovar says the drama's coupling 'unveils unsettling truths about human relationships' adding 'the truth is thin people (even straight men with cash and cachet) desire, love and marry people who are larger than they are all of the time'. So why does 'mixed-weight' sex seem weird, especially when it happens in the glossy, frothy world of period drama?

READ MORE

How 'mixed-weight' relationships have been on our screens long before Bridgerton

The answer is because large women never score with thin men in the fantasy world of TV drama and movies. The double standard rules - slobs are always male, and their women are usually several hundred kilos lighter. I can't think of a TV series where a plus-size woman has managed to have sex with a thinner man - ever.

These critics of Penelope and Colin's romance can't even consider for a moment that he might actually fancy her, might find a larger women a turn-on, like many men in the real world. Zoe Strimpel dismisses the couple as 'not hot' - but could that be because real-world relationships are rarely mirrored in drama? Even in the age of equality for all, a double standard exists in TV and movies. Men can be fat, ugly and succeed - but never women.

For decades, the stereotype has thrived in countless TV shows that slobby men can pull slender women, and nobody finds that odd. Could it be because most TV networks (up to now) were run by fat white men of a certain age, who probably managed to date younger glamorous women because of their power rather than their looks?

Male slobs have entertained us for over half a century - Fred Flintstone's long-suffering wife Wilma was slender, while he looked like a caveman who rarely saw soap and water.

In a recent article in Spectator Magazine writer Zoe Stimpel described the actress as 'not hot' and said it was 'not plausible' that Penelope 'would catch the handsome, rich aristocrat Colin Bridgerton's eye in that way'. Zoe pulled no punches, brutally describing Nicola as simply 'fat'

Nicola Coughlan has burst onto our screens and turned convention on its head. Is she really a fat icon? Hardly, the girl usually wears a size 12 and plus sizes start at 16, but she is several sizes larger than most leading actresses

If you find the relationship between Penelope and Colin unsettling, what does it say about you? 

Homer Simpson was a revolting slob with a normal-sized wife (Marge) who deserved better.

The King of Slobs was Tony Soprano - a man-mountain with a huge beer gut, racked with insecurities, and an appalling taste in clothes. Somehow he managed to hold onto a wife – Carmela - who not only put up with him, but was in great shape and tried her best to be well-dressed.

Now, Nicola Coughlan has burst onto our screens and turned convention on its head. Is she really a fat icon? Hardly, the girl usually wears a size 12 and plus sizes start at 16, but she is several sizes larger than most leading actresses. Think of Nicole Kidman, Rees Witherspoon, Emma Stone and Margot Robbie - all very slender. Larger women - like Rebel Wilson - rarely play romantic leads.

If you find the relationship between Penelope and Colin unsettling, what does it say about you? According to Virgie Tovar (who wrote a book entitled You Have The Right to Remain Fat - so you know where she's coming from) it means you are Fat-phobic. Tovar even started a campaign on social media with the hashtag #LoseHateNotWeight.

James Gandolfini and Edie Falco as Tony and Carmela in HBO hit The Sopranos

Homer Simpson is famously bigger than his wife Marge - and is opposed to all forms of exercise

Fred and Wilma Flintstone also helped cement the 'mixed-weight' trope on TV

Iris (Kate Winslet) and Miles (Jack Black) in The Holiday, who fall in love after a house swap

Daphne Reid as Vivian Banks and James Avery as Uncle Phil in the Fresh Prince of Bel Air

Relationship experts agree that in the real world, women routinely rate humour and kindness over good looks when choosing a partner. Men might claim they are looking for a certain body type but the truth is, they will opt for someone who will care for them and make them feel special.

As for expressions like 'mixed weight couples' – they really aren't part of everyday conversation, and sound more appropriate for the lecture theatre. Lorraine Kelly was quick to scoff at the tag and described the Bridgerton romance as 'two lovely people who have fallen in love and are eventually happy'.

Some might say that the glorification of the larger woman has gone too far, that overweight women are not being told of the long-term impact on their health in the rush to celebrate every body shape.

True enough, but Nicola Coughlan hardly merits being described as obese. She is curvaceous, proud and gorgeous. But the trolling and the objectifying must be draining, because she is truly a trail-blazer helping to make television more relatable to young viewers.

She deserves every bit of her success.