Sex and the City will end after the current sixth series

Baryshnikov, 55, will sweep Bradshaw - played by Sarah Jessica Parker - off her feet as the show comes to an end, TV company HBO has said.

Sex and the City, which is expected to finish after the current sixth series, has followed the love lives of four Manhattan women.

Baryshnikov told the New York Times: "I think it's about time to do something my children can't watch."

Mikhail Baryshnikov needed persuading to appear on the show

The Latvian-born Baryshnikov, who defected to Canada in 1974, will play a popular international artist, Alexander Petrovsky.

Parker said it took a "long courtship" to persuade him to appear in the final eight episodes of the programme.

The show's creator, Candace Bushnell, on whom the Bradshaw character is based, recently married ballet dancer Charles Askegard.