Patrick Dempsey in talks to join cast of Bridget Jones’s Baby

COLIN Firth and Hugh Grant played Bridget’s last on-screen love interests, but there’s a new hunk on the scene for the third instalment of the romantic comedy.

PIRATE: Actor Renee Zellweger in 2004 film |Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason|. Zellweger/Actor

PATRICK Dempsey is reportedly in talks to land his first big screen gig, post Grey’s Anatomy.

The actor is in final negotiations to join the cast of Bridget Jones’s Baby, according to Deadline Hollywood.

The long-awaited third instalment of the romantic comedy sees Renée Zellweger, 46, reprising her beloved role, while Colin Firth, 54, will also return as love interest Mark Darcy.

Plot details are being kept under wraps for now, but it is thought Dempsey, 49, will play a rival for Bridget’s affection in the absence of Hugh Grant’s character Daniel Cleaver.

Colin Firth with Renée Zellweger and Hugh Grant in Bridget Jones's Diary.

Judging by the title, it seems Bridget Jones (now in her 40s) unexpectedly falls pregnant in the upcoming third instalment, although it’s unclear who the father is.

The first two films were based on Helen Fielding’s books of the same names, but according to Deadline, Bridget Jones’s Baby was inspired by Fielding’s columns, not by her latest novel Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy.

Dempsey’s role in the rom-com will be his first on-screen appearance since his Grey’s Anatomy character McDreamy was killed off back in April.

The hunky actor questioned his future on the big screen in an interview with Entertainment Weekly afterwards. “Will I be allowed to do something different?” he said. “Is Derek so identifiable that I can’t go on and be someone else? That will be the challenge. To see if people embrace me as someone else.”

Grey's Anatomy star Patrick Dempsey as Derek Shepherd.

Renée Zellweger in Bridget Jones's Diary.