Jennifer Saunders' love life - 80s' boyband star to husband's 'stripper' joke

05 January 2024 , 19:50

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The Absolutely Fabulous star has one of the strongest marriages in showbiz (Image: WireImage)

She has one of the strongest marriages in showbiz.

Jennifer Saunders has been happily married to fellow comic Adrian Edmondson since 1985 but before finding lasting love, the star previously dated a famous musician.

Jennifer, 65 and Ade, 66, became friends on the London alternative comedy circuit in the 1980s, meeting in a strip club. "It was a comic strip club, so you could perform alternative comedy on one stage while there were strippers on the other," explained Ade. "Needless to say, she was one of the comedians, not one of the strippers."

The Young Ones star, then 23, was instantly smitten. "You'd have to ask Jennifer how she felt," he wrote in his recent autobiography Berserker! "I grew up at a boy's school and never learnt to talk to women. I was always a bit on the back foot."

Jennifer and Ade have been married for 38 years (Dave J Hogan/Getty Images)

The French And Saunders funnywoman went on to reciprocate Ade's affections by sliding an empty cigarette box under his windscreen wiper one day, with a note on the packet reading: "I love you, Adrian. Love Jennifer." He keeps it to this day.

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"When we were first going out, whenever I went round to Jennifer’s place, she’d open the door and we would snog for 10 minutes before even saying hello," said the Bottom comedian. "It was amazing." Ade considered proposing on horseback as Jennifer is a fan of horses but his lack of riding skills meant he got down on one knee at a dinner instead, asking: "Can we get married and have children?"

Jennifer is known for French And Saunders, the comedy duo with Dawn French (Getty Images Europe)

The star dated Depeche Mode's Andrew Fletcher in her younger days (Popperfoto via Getty Images)

Married for 38 years since their Cheshire wedding in May 1985, the couple have daughters Ella, Beattie and Freya and five grandkids. They live on a farm in the Devonshire countryside.

"The thing is to avoid The Big Argument," Jennifer said about sustaining a long-term relationship. "Compromise is a marvellous thing." The Absolutely Fabulous star dated Andrew Fletcher, founding member of band Depeche Mode for a year in 1980. The keyboardist, who was married for 30 years with three kids, died in 2022 aged 60.

Jennifer appears in Celebrity Gogglebox on C4 tonight, 9pm

Vikki White