How to live a ‘Real-Life Rom-Com’
This Gen-Z Carrie Bradshaw might only be 20 years old — but she’s already found her happily ever after.
Carrie Berk — yes, she shares the same name as the “Sex and the City” protagonist, and no, it’s not a coincidence — is a social media star dishing out dating advice in her brand new book, “My Real-Life Rom-Com: How to Build Confidence and Write Your Own Relationship Rules.”
“The rom-coms we see at the movies aren’t necessarily real life,” Berk told The Post. “Real life is messy and it’s hard.”
That may be true, but Berk’s “real life” is much more glamorous than the average New Yorker’s — and it appears she was destined by birth to become a relationship writer.
Berk was named after Carrie Bradshaw by her “Sex and the City” obsessed mom: magazine editor and noted author, Sheryl Berk.
She had a gilded childhood, growing up on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, attending the ritzy Trevor Day School and spending ample time out in the Hamptons.
During the pandemic, Berk became a bona fide star on TikTok, racking up a whopping 3.8 million followers, with videos about fashion, fitness and beauty. However, in spite of her privilege and social media fame, Berk says she’s just like any other boy-crazy girl.
Recently, the rising cyberstar finally snagged her own (unnamed, by choice) Prince Charming, and in “My Real-Life Rom-Com” she details her dating adventures in the hopes that her fans can land their own lasting love, too.
Each chapter in “My Real-Life Rom Com” is dedicated to one of Berk’s flings, exes or crushes.
There’s a boy at a bar mitzvah, a dreamy SoCal surfer, and the first guy who ever broke her heart — an attractive Australian she describes as her “very own Chris Hemsworth.”
But Berk’s book isn’t your average agony aunt advice guide. Instead, she shares her romantic history so that readers can draw their own conclusions to come up with “relationship rules” that work for them.
“I don’t want to be dictating the rules for dating,” the social media sensation — who also boasts 920,000 followers on Instagram — told The Post.
However, there is one lesson that Berk abides by.
“The ultimate lesson at the core of my book is: self-love comes first,” Berk declared. “It sounds like such a cliché — but you can’t love others unless you love yourself.”
She also told The Post she believes that healthy communication is non-negotiable.
“In general, someone who is a really poor communicator is a warning sign,” the author asserted saying people should be wary about potential paramours who don’t respond to texts in a timely fashion and cancel plans at the last minute.
Berk has been dating her current boyfriend since May after meeting him on a dating app. And although she’s smitten, he’s just one of the loves of her life.
Berk dedicates her new book to her mom, who she says helped foster her love of Carrie Bradshaw.
On the cover of “My Real-Life Rom-Com,” Berk is seen wearing a white tutu — an obvious ode to the outfit Sarah Jessica Parker (who played Bradshaw) wears in the opening credits of “Sex and the City.”
But it’s not just an imitation — it’s the real deal.
Berk’s mom was once a writer for HBO’s websites and was on set the day Parker donned that iconic garment. The older Berk was allowed to take one of the tutus off the rack as a keepsake, which now features on her daughter’s book cover.
It’s not the only link Berk shares with Parker. She also hobnobbed with the actress’s son, James Wilkie Broderick, while growing up in her rarefied and privileged Big Apple social circle.
“My camp friend went to school with him, and she introduced us,” Berk writes of Broderick in the opening of her book. “Our friendship started with sharing a Lollipop Passion Goblet at the Sugar Factory, followed by a screening of the latest superhero film. I swam in Sarah Jessica’s pool in the Hamptons, bounced around on her trampoline and chilled until midnight in their cozy townhouse back in the city.”
The author continues: “She served me banana juice, lent me her sweatpants and listened patiently as I spoke about my passion for writing. Yet as she walked through her home with wet hair and a robe, I never realized just how much she—or her on-screen character—would inspire me in years to come.”
Indeed, Berk has no qualms about being a Carrie Bradshaw for the TikTok generation.
“I look at love in the same romanticized way that Carrie does,” she told The Post. “I’m still such a sucker for flowers and crazy displays of affection.”