British comedian Dawn French has opened up about her battle with body image, describing the cruel comments made about her during her time on hit TV series French and Saunders.
French, 65, starred in the sketch comedy show alongside Jennifer Saunders. The pair had met while studying at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. The series was considered ahead of its time when it launched in 1987, with two female comedians as the main stars.
“Certainly until recently, when it became unfashionable to be so unkind,” she told French has spoken to The Times UK ahead of the launch of her new show Dawn French Is a Huge Twat and book The Twat Files.
READ MORE: The scathing breakup song that fixed Pink’s broken marriage
“But for many years Jennifer [Saunders] and I were always described by how we looked, especially me, because I was the bigger one,” she recalled.
“It was always about ‘running to fat’ or ‘plump’, and they never said that about any of the male comedians,” French continued.
READ MORE: Nicholas Witchell: Martin Bashir was an absolute blaggard
“I absolutely own whatever my size is and I will call myself whatever I want. But if I feel like the intent is to shame me, I will not have it,” she says.
French first spoke about her experiences in her 2009 memoir Dear Fatty.
The hit series would come to an abrupt end in 1993 after six years, with French calling an end to the collaboration after a difficult day of filming.
French explains she and Saunders were filming a sketch in which they were in a public bathroom at the BBC and French describes her fantasy that American singer Anastacia hears her sing and invites her to come on Top of the Pops with her.
The next scene shows French dressed in Anastasica’s signature cowgirl look next to the singer performing on the show.
She recalled in The Twat Files: “I’d genuinely never felt so ugly. I’d often voluntarily, happily been ‘ugly’ for hundreds of sketches. I’ve never minded what something looks like, as long as it’s servicing the joke right. The mirror was clearly telling me why this was so painfully abhorrent. Because the joke was on me.”
For a daily dose of 9Honey, subscribe to our newsletter here
French said she finished filming, got in her car, “burst into hot angry tears” and called it a day, leaving Saunders and fans shocked.
Saunders and French are still firm friends to this day, despite the abrupt end of their successful collaboration, each transitioning to solo careers.
They would collaborate again for the French and Saunders Christmas Celebrity Special which aired in December 2005 on BBC One and on a podcast called French & Saunders: Titting About.
“The mirror was clearly telling me why this was so painfully abhorrent. Because the joke was on me.”
They also reunited in 2021 for a one-off special French and Saunders: Funny Women.
French would battle cancer in 2014 during which she lost 47 kilos after a doctor recommended she lose weight to speed up her recovery time.
She found compliments about her weight loss difficult to take during this time.
“And I think, ‘F— off. Don’t judge that other person who I loved,” she explained.