Ab Fab character ‘is gay’ say unearthed notes by Jennifer Saunders: ‘What’s her girlfriend like?’

There we were thinking Saffy and Patsy had a thing for each other – it turns out, it was an entirely different Absolutely Fabulous character who was into women!

Indeed, unearthed notes from Jennifer Saunders about the 90s show have shown that the comedy genius conceived of Jane Horrocks’s character “as gay.”

Saunders wrote and starred in the classic sitcom as eccentric PR Edina, opposite Joanna Lumley as heavy-drinking fashion journo Patsy. Jane Horrocks, meanwhile, played Bubble, Edina’s useless PA.

Revisiting archived paperwork for last week’s Gold TV special Absolutely Fabulous: Inside Out, the camera catches Jennifer’s reaction in real time as she makes the (re)discovery about Bubble.

“We never went to much into Bubble” – Jennifer Saunders

Rifling through her old notes, Jennifer reads aloud: “‘Bubble is gay’, it says here.”

“Bubble is gay!” she repeats in wonder. “I never knew that.” The note then adds: “What is her girlfriend like?”

“She was a mystery,” reflected Jennifer. “We never went too much into Bubble, because it’s quite nice just to have a slightly surreal character.”

Jennifer also discussed Absolutely Fabulous in a recent interview with Attitude, while sitting down for an ‘in conversation’ piece with ‘Shout’ singer Lulu, who regularly guest starred on the show.

Reliving the iconic ‘Champagnes for Lulu!’ scene, Jen said: “What we learnt from French and Saunders was, if you got a celebrity, make sure they in the end have the upper hand, so no matter how much you abuse them, they have a comeback!”

Asked if she’d bring Lulu should Ab Fab return in the future, the star said: “Of course. It’s the familiarity of stuff. That’s what’s fun about returning to a show. I’d just call it ‘Champagne for Lulu’, and it would just be Lulu and Champagne. And licking plates.”

Lulu won the Honorary Gay Award, supported by Jaguar, at this month’s Virgin Atlantic Attitude Awards, powered by Jaguar.