When Carrie Bradshaw danced through her gazillion-dollar townhouse in the final moments of And Just Like That affirming that her alone-ness did not equate to loneliness, I fear she was missing an option that lies somewhere outside the spectrum of “single” and “coupled up”. It’s a place I know well, and wish the fictional patron saint of single city girls could experience for herself. It’s a vital role, one that affirms existing friendships and builds new ones, and doubles your opportunity for gossip in group chats.

I’m talking about being the third wheel.

The author, Brodie Lancaster.Credit: Justin McManus

It’s a title that’s had a bad wrap since the beginning of time, with its inference of unsteadiness and unwelcome-ness. The third wheel is supposedly an imposition or someone who can’t read the room. They’re encroaching on a happy couple’s alone time or cursed to wallow in a hazy state of former friendship forever.

Unless my closest friends are really excellent actors, those misconceptions couldn’t be further from the truth.

Eight years ago, when my friend Emily started seeing Mike, she and I went from close to inseparable – and........

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