Carrie Bradshaw tips hat to Stanford Blatch on season two premiere of And Just Like That...

The season two premiere of And Just Like That... included a touching tip of the hat to Stanford Blatch, played by the late Willie Garson.

During the original run of Sex And The City, Stanford became a fan favorite as the closest gay friend of Sarah Jessica Parker's character Carrie Bradshaw.

Willie returned for a brief recurring stint on season one of And Just Like That... - but in late 2021 he died tragically aged 57 of pancreatic cancer.

Rather than killing off Stanford, the show wrote him out by moving him to Tokyo, setting the stage for a heartwarming tribute on the season two premiere. 

Carrie gets a compliment on her 'stunning kimono' and glowingly replies: 'Oh, thank you! My friend Stanford sent it to me from Japan.'

Throwback: The season two premiere of And Just Like That... included a touching tip of the hat to Stanford Blatch, played by the late Willie Garson, pictured by Sarah Jessica Parker

Remember when: During the original run of Sex And The City, Stanford became a fan favorite as the closest gay friend of Sarah Jessica's character Carrie Bradshaw

The sex columnist is wrapped in the robe while answering the door for her Met Gala designer Smoke (Bethlehem Million), who pays her the compliment.

When And Just Like That... was first announced, fans were crestfallen to learn that Kim Cattrall would not be reprising the role of the man-eating Samantha Jones. 

Sarah Jessica, Kim, Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis all achieved icon status as the main foursome of the smash hit original series. 

Kim's absence from the spin-off was however unsurprising in the wake of her long-running feud with her Sarah Jessica, on top of which Kim had previously resisted a clarion call to return to the role for a third movie.

A few weeks ago it emerged that Kim will finally appear on season two of And Just Like That... - but only for a brief cameo, in a phone call scene that she shot separately from the rest of the cast. 

In a new Vanity Fair interview, Cynthia was asked if the 'dynamic' on-set was 'different' without Kim and replied tellingly that it 'makes an enormous difference, that you're not walking around on eggshells with someone who's unhappy for reasons that are hard to even understand what they are.' 

When she was asked if she had watched Kim's cameo, Cynthia responded: 'I read it in the script, but I haven't seen any of the episodes.'

It emerged at the end of May that Kim will briefly reprise her Sex And The City role on season two of its spin-off, after previously refusing to have anything to do with the new series and announcing she had 'moved on.'

Devastating: Willie returned for a brief recurring stint on season one of And Just Like That... (pictured), only to die tragically in late 2021 at the age of 57 of pancreatic cancer

International: Carrie gets a compliment on her 'stunning kimono' and glowingly replies: 'Oh, thank you! My friend Stanford sent it to me from Japan'

Who's who: The sex columnist is wrapped in the robe while answering the door for her Met Gala designer Smoke (Bethlehem Million), who pays her the compliment

Shortly thereafter, it was claimed that Kim filmed her And Just Like That... cameo without ever coming face-to-face with Sarah Jessica - or anyone else in the cast.

Samantha Jones will reportedly make her brief appearance in the form of a phone call to Sarah Jessica's character Carrie Bradshaw.

Evan Handler, who plays a supporting role on the series, told People that Kim's part 'was shot in the garage somewhere with no contact with anybody, so the only place I have to welcome her is into my living room when it airs on television.'

Kim's latest decisions with regard to her character come in the wake of wake of the years-long enmity between her and Sarah Jessica.

Their equation was so noxious that that when Kim's brother Chris committed suicide, Sarah Jessica publicly offered her condolences and Kim responded by furiously accusing her of 'exploiting our tragedy in order to restore your "nice girl" persona.'

She then linked to the New York Post story headlined 'Inside the mean-girls culture that destroyed "Sex and the City"' from 2017.

The article alleged that Sarah Jessica, Kristin and Cynthia formed their own friend group on-set to the exclusion of Kim.

Near the conclusion of the show's run, an insider told Page Six that Kim's three main co-stars would not speak to her 'even in the makeup room

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