Comedian Dawn French has told Woman’s Weekly magazine that she has “body blindness” which she reckons stops her losing weight.

At just 5ft tall, 51 year old Dawn is a size 20 – she was a size 16 when she was just 13 years old – and despite having been told by doctors that she’s risking life threatening illnesses, she says she finds it impossible to diet. And she claims she’s not worried about what her weight may be doing to her health.

“I can honestly say that it doesn’t bother me, though I do worry that I’ll get so comfortably fat that I won’t be able to walk any more.

“Sometimes I’ll get out of bed and think, ‘Oooh, I need to do some exercise’ – but that’s probably about once a year, if that.

“I think the medical term for my condition is called ‘body blindness’. I may ultimately regret not looking after myself more, and plenty of people would line up to tell me that, but it doesn’t concern me.” Read more & comment »

BBC Two has commissioned a new comedy series starring Dawn French, called Roger And Val Have Just Got In. Casting for the male lead is still ongoing.

Written by Emma and Beth Kilcoyne (Dogtown), the series will feature the lives of a middle-aged couple after they’ve come through the door at the end of the working day.

Mark Freeland, Head of Comedy at the BBC, said: “Roger And Val leapt off the page at me the very first time I saw it. There will be nothing like it when it arrives on BBC Two. It’s original, intriguing, sweet, funny and full of pathos. And it’s only got two people in it.”

Read more & comment »

The path of telly history is littered with Christmas specials and for many of us, it simply wouldn’t be Christmas without them, so today, we’re taking a look at the contribution that Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders have made to this grand old tradition.

In 1987 Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders launched their own sketch show which would go for six series and would produce some of the funniest Christmas specials of all time. We’ve gathered together a few clips for you to enjoy again the magic that is F&S.

Read more & comment »

Dawn French, here are your best bits…

And no, we don’t mean her considerable assets mammary-wise, though to be fair, they’re worth a mention!

Today, we’ve decided to take a look back at some of the most memorable bits of Dawn’s career. She’s recently released her auto-biography, Dear Fatty, and it’s inspired a renewed interest in the lady, so by popular demand, here are Dawn’s best bits…

Her career in comedy began when Dawn starred in the groundbreaking alternative comedy, the Comic Strip. This show was a radical departure from the traditional comedy shows of the time and was later followed by another new concept in comedy programming, the all-female, Girls On Top. This show marked her first professional partnership with Jennifer Saunders, Ruby Wax and Tracy Ullman and firmly established her as a tour de force in British comedy.

Read more & comment »

Comedienne, Dawn French has revealed that she would love her bring back her BBC show, Vicar Of Dibley, but this time she’d like to see the lady Vicar as a Bishop!

Dawn told The Sun: “If a woman could be a bishop in the Church of England, why not?”

Co-star James Fleet, 53, who played bumbling Hugo Horton, is is also hoping that the show makes a comeback.

James said: “In times of crisis like a recession, they should bring Dibley back to make people smile.”

There’s no such thing as a taboo subject when journalist Dawn Porter gets on the case. This series of four programmes tackles the questions you were afraid to ask on all things female. In the first programme, Dawn Gets Naked, she explores female-body image by hosting a naked flashmob in central London, going to a life-drawing class, visiting a burlesque show and finding out what it’s like to be airbrushed.

The series continues with Dawn Goes Lesbian, in which Dawn explores the world of lesbianism to try to find out the truth behind the myths and stereotypes, as she moves into a lesbian flat-share and pledges to undertake a “man ban”. In Dawn Gets Her Man, she delves into the world of
21st-century dating to see if the perfect relationship really does exist. The series concludes with Dawn Gets A Baby, in which Dawn faces up to the business end of giving birth and explores whether those who are “too posh to push” have got the right idea.

Thursday 14 February
9.00-9.30pm BBC THREE