Vexed in the City

But this is the real-life drama in which Candace Bushnell, creator of the TV show, is taking a leading role.

As a follow-up to her worldwide hit, she wrote Lipstick Jungle, about the boardroom and bedroom antics of lusty New York businesswomen.

Bushnell approached Sex And The City’s producer Darren Star to take charge of it. But he pulled out after failing to agree financial terms – and set up his own TV series.

His Cashmere Mafia, about four lusty female executives battling to juggle career and family, sounds all too similar to Bushnell’s series – about four lusty female executives battling to juggle career and family.

Bushnell is said to be devastated  and has reportedly stopped speaking to Star, who had been one of her closest friends for years.

Their friendship had even survived the challenge of Star making millions more out of Sex And The City than Bushnell ever did.

She sold the TV rights to him in 1996 for £30,000 before the show went on air. Star, who had co-produced Beverly Hills 90210 and Melrose Place, made a fortune.

But Bushnell eventually became a millionairess, thanks to sales of her Sex And The City novel and her later books, Four Blondes, Trading Up and Lipstick Jungle, whose heroines are a little older, richer and more power-hungry than her Sex And The City characters.

Now she is believed to be determined that her TV adaptation of her book will crush her former friend’s new series.

Bushnell, 49, and Star, 46, have kept tight-lipped about each other lately and have been preparing their shows for their launches.

But their refusal to comment about their relationship has only fuelled rumours of a bitter falling out as their shows – being aired on rival American networks NBC and ABC – chase the same audience.

Bushnell and Star are also competing for millions in foreign sales. Lipstick Jungle and Cashmere Mafia could fetch up to £500,000 per episode for exclusive UK broadcast rights alone.

The shows are being offered to British and other international ­stations at this week’s annual American TV sales event, the LA Screenings. Channel 4, which had such a hit with Sex And The City, is interested in both but faces stiff competition from ITV, BBC, Living and Sky TV.

The other new US series bound to attract big British bids is a remake of The Bionic Woman, ­starring ex-EastEnder Michelle Ryan. But it’s the two shows both dubbed “the next Sex And The City” on which our networks will splash out most of their cash.

Lipstick Jungle’s lead roles are taken by Brooke Shields and 24 beauty Kim Raver.

Cashmere Mafia boasts Lucy Liu from Charlie’s Angels and Lord Of The Rings star Miranda Otto.

One British TV executive said: “The behind-the-scenes drama has added real spice to the bidding war but all that matters to the buyers is that they end up with the better show.”

Bushnell, 49, is wisely taking a more hands-on approach with Lipstick Jungle than she did with Sex And The City, which was inspired by the column of the same name that she wrote for the New York Observer.

That series, about New York ­dating columnist Carrie Bradshaw and her man-chasing pals, ran for six years, won eight Golden Globes, and made stars of Sarah Jessica Parker and Kim Cattrall.

But Bushnell is not dwelling on the past. “I am very proud of my new project,” she says, without mentioning the competing show. “The characters in Lipstick Jungle were inspired by the real-life women I know and admire in New York.

“As with Sex And The City, I spent a lot of time thinking about where women were today and what I noticed was a fascinating group of women in their 40s who were leading non-traditional lives.

“They were highly successful and motivated, they often had children and usually were the providers for their families and yet they didn’t fit the old stereotype of the witchy businesswoman.”

Now it will have to be seen if a highly successful, motivated and unconventional woman in her 40s – Bushnell – can get the better of a highly successful man – Star.

And if the drama on screen is anything like as enthralling as the events off it, both Lipstick Jungle and Cashmere Mafia should make compulsive viewing.