Linda Robson breaks silence on Pauline Quirke 'feud' after 50years of friendship

11 February 2024 , 10:47

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Linda Robson breaks silence on Pauline Quirke 'feud' after 50years of friendship

Linda Robson has poured cold water on reports that she has a "feud" with former Birds of a Feather co-star Pauline Quirke, who she has had a friendship with for over 50 years.

The 65-year-old Loose Women panellist has said that there has never been any fallout between the pair, who met when at a North London primary school. When Pauline decided to quit the successful sitcom, there were reports that the pair had fallen out. But Linda has now said there was no such problems and they're still good friends.

Speaking to Mail+, Linda described how they had been pals since primary school and used to play games together in the streets after school before joining a drama club as they headed into their teenage years. They eventually hit the heights in the 1980s when Birds of a Feather became as popular as Only Fools and Horses, bringing in tens of millions of viewers with each episode.

Linda Robson has denied any 'feud' with Birds of a Feather co-star Pauline Quirke (BBC)

After more than two decades away from the sitcom, ITV commissioned a Christmas episode in 2020 but Pauline was not so keen and decided to walk away from the show. Linda said that she was upset but it wasn't going to be something that would ruin their friendship.

Linda said about that time: "I’m not going to lie and say Lesley and I weren’t disappointed. Of course we were. We were gutted and we couldn’t imagine going on without her. We were a trio – how could it possibly work without any one of us? But at the same time as all that sadness, there was acceptance and understanding, too."

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The comedy star said she had a feeling that Pauline wasn't going to be a part of it and said that she knew it was coming. Linda continued: "I’d had a feeling she was building up to telling us. You don’t have a friendship spanning more than 50 years and not get a sense for what each other is thinking." Linda revealed Pauline said: "'I don’t want to act any more. It’s not Birds Of A Feather itself, it’s everything. I feel like I’m done with it. I feel bad for you two, but you can go on without me'."

After the news was announced, Linda said she knew that rumours would circulate that the pair had fallen out. She said: "Sure enough, the headlines were predictable, saying there was a ‘feud’ and ‘bad blood’ and that she’d quit because we were no longer speaking. It’s such bulls***. We tried to ignore it but it was difficult when it was all we were ever asked about."

Linda was steadfast in saying that her friendship with Pauline would outlive any TV show as they had been there "for each other through thick and thin and for every single major life event." In 2022, the pair looked to bury any fallout rumours by meeting up with their Birds of a Feather co-star Lesley Joseph for a lunch in Central London.

Linda said: "We had our photo taken together and I got my daughter Roberta to upload it to my Instagram, captioning it: ‘A lovely lunch with my beautiful friends.’ It was our way of saying, ‘There you go, that’ll shut you up!’"

James Brinsford