Dawn French cried 'hot angry tears' after splitting from Jennifer Saunders

24 October 2023 , 13:44

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Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders stopped filming their show in 2005 (Image: UKTV)

Dawn French says she sat sobbing for hours after telling Jennifer Saunders she wanted to end their successful show – and says she did it because she felt "ugly".

Much-loved Dawn made the heartbreaking decision to call an end to the French & Saunders partnership after watching herself back in a sketch with singing star Anastacia. The programme, which had run for six series and nine specials from 1987, was suddenly shelved in 2005 without warning.

Almost 35 years after the BBC sketch show launched, Dawn has addressed her reasons behind the sudden axe and says she cried "hot angry tears" after telling her co-star that she just couldn't carry on. The comic has written a new book untitled the The T**t Files and she outlined why she couldn't go on.

Dawn has revealed the heartbreaking reason why she couldn't carry on (Dave Benett/Getty Images)

French & Saunders enjoyed six laughter-filled years on the BBC

"It's often voluntarily, happily being ugly for hundreds of sketches, if it serviced the joke right," she wrote. "The mirror was telling me why this was so painfully abhorrent. Because the joke was on me." The 65-year-old said seeing the sketch was the "turning point" for her.

Before picking up the phone to her friend, Dawn recalled how she "burst into hot, angry tears" and "properly sobbed all the 28 miles home." She went on: "It [the show] wasn't so bad but it wasn't what I wanted. I felt out of control and I felt humiliated. It tipped me over.

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"Jennifer would never fight me on something so big. But she does say now, 'What the f**k were you thinking? We could easily have sorted that'." Adding that she had no regrets over her decision, Vicar of Dibley legend Dawn explained: "I think it was time to go to another chapter. You have to know when that happens."

The popular programme suddenly came to an end but fans didn't know why

Dawn maintains her friendship with comedy partner Jennifer is a bit like a marriage – and happily admits to not liking her friend much at first when they met at drama school in the 1970s. They were soon so close they were "sort of in love" and they went on to achieve big things together.

Dawn told the Finding the Funny podcast last year: "I didn't really like Jen that much at the very beginning because she's quite posh, or I thought she was but she's not really. She had a whole friendship group of way out of my league sort of people, and then I had to share a flat with her.

"But as soon as I got rid of my prejudice about her, which I still have to this day – prejudice against posh people, they have to prove their worth to me – I thought, 'She's actually great.' We were just children together, enjoyed showing off for each other, and were sort of in love, really.

"Because we were friends first and this career came as a result of that we have been very careful to make sure the friendship is what is preserved." Dawn said she and Jennifer, 64, get on so well they have never had a "full-on row" and added, "we compromise, like a marriage, I guess."

Sam Elliott-Gibbs