Dawn French reveals she quit the iconic comedy act with girlfriend Jennifer Saunders after the ‘humiliating’ skit left her ‘crying all the way home’

Dawn French has revealed she was quitting her iconic sketch show French & Saunders with comedy partner Jennifer Saunders after a sketch left her ‘humiliated’.

The 66-year-old actress recalled how she became the butt of the joke in the 2008 scene with singer Anastacia, before “crying all the way home” and quitting the series after a decade.

In a new BBC documentary about the duo’s career, Dawn explained how the show’s costume designer ‘fell on her back laughing’ when the Vicar Of Dibley star dressed up as the American singer.

Saying, ‘I looked in the mirror and thought, “Yeah, this isn’t it, this isn’t what Anastacia looks like.” But instead of finding it funny, I just thought, “Oh, I don’t like it”‘.

Adding, “It felt like I had no control over the comedy. The joke was on me. There was no way I could control it.”

The actress recalled how she became the butt of the joke in the 2008 scene with singer Anastacia (pictured) before ‘crying all the way home’ and calling time on the series after ten years.

Jennifer, 65, heard the story for the first time and said:[I] I didn’t know it was so dramatic that you decided to end the whole act.”

Dawn continued, “I hated everything about the day and I said I would never do that again. I will never feel so humiliated again.’

“It could have just been hormonal, but I just hated it, and I’d never hated it before.”

Jennifer went on to say that their show ended on TV “long before the infamous skit where TV bosses ‘canceled everything’.”

Dawn brand Sketch shows a ‘game for young people’, while her friend said: ‘We thought about it carefully, no one really wants us anymore and the truth is you need a break’.

Written by and starring the duo, French and Saunders first aired in 1987 and saw them parody famous films including Titanic and The Exorcist.

It comes after Dawn revealed she was plotting a return to the small screen.

Speaking on Tonight with Andrew Marr on LBC, Dawn said she hopes the show will air in late 2024 or early 2025, promising she will ‘fight to allow people to be as offensive as they want to be’.

In a new BBC documentary about the duo’s career, Dawn explained how the show’s costume designer ‘fell on her back laughing’ when the Vicar Of Dibley star dressed up as the American singer.

Saying, ‘I looked in the mirror and thought, “Yeah, this isn’t it, this isn’t what Anastacia looks like.” But instead of finding it funny, I just thought, “Oh, I don’t like it.”‘

Written by and starring the pair, French and Saunders first aired in 1987 and saw them parody famous films including Titanic and The Exorcist

She said: “Plans are in the works. I can’t tell you too much about it at the moment. But there will be a sitcom at the end of next year or early next year and I’ll be in that.’

Dawn spoke today about the state of comedy and recalled the struggle she and Jennifer had to get Absolutely Fabulous on screens.

She said, “I remember Jennifer [Saunders] and told me how hard it was to get Absolutely Fabulous off the ground because its characters smoked, drank, fell over and were complete eejits.

“But you know, it all seems so mild now… Let’s be inappropriate, let’s wear purple, let’s push the boundaries a little and laugh at ourselves when we get it a little wrong.”

When asked if comedy has become a bit too vanilla these days, Dawn replied: “No, because there’s everything there. There is everything for everyone. I would fight tooth and nail to let people be as offensive as they want.

‘Hate? No. I think we know when something creeps into completely unacceptable hate speech. I think we all know when that’s the case.

‘And of course it’s just not funny. Those are the facts. It’s just not funny to anyone except the person who thinks it, who usually loses their marbles.’