Dawn French 'didn't really like' Jennifer Saunders when they met because she was 'posh'
Dawn French has revealed that when she first met her comedy partner Jennifer Saunders she wasn’t that keen on her because she was “posh”.
The French And Saunders pair met when they shared a flat while they were at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London in the 70s and French confessed she had to get past her “prejudice against posh people”.
Speaking on the Finding The Funny podcast, she said: “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. But I thought she was and she already had a whole friendship group of very beautiful, way out of my league people, or so I thought."
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She went on: “As soon as I got rid of my prejudice about her, which I still have to this day – prejudice against posh people, I have to get past it, they have to sort of prove their worth to me, posh people – as soon as I got past that I thought, ‘She is actually great’.
"And we just were children together.
"We just enjoyed showing off for each other, and we... sort of in love really."
The pair went on to become close friends and forged a comedy career together in the 80s.
Their sketch show French And Saunders was launched in 1987 and went on until 2005.
As well as the award-winning series, Saunders starred with Joanna Lumley in long-running sitcom Absolutely Fabulous, while French has her own hit sitcom The Vicar Of Dibley.
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The comedians worked together again on BBC sitcom Jam & Jerusalem, which aired from 2006 to 2009, and French made an appearance in the Absolutely Fabulous movie in 2016.
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