Joanna Lumley has revealed that her Ab Fab character Patsy Stone is transgender.
Speaking to V Magazine with her co-star Jennifer Saunders, who plays hapless fashion PR Edina Monsoon in the iconic TV show and upcoming movie, the actress discussed how the programme was ahead of its time in terms of its presentation of LGBT characters.
'You go back and pick through it, the amount of gay references and ease with which it's been put into the story, without it being dragged along like a great log of plot,' Lumley said. 'It's really normal that one of [Eddie's] ex-husbands now lives with his young boyfriend. It's completely normal that [Eddie] wants [her daughter] Saffy to be a lesbian, or that [her son] Serge is gay and living in New York.'
'It's completely normal that Patsy is transgender.'
Saunders also discussed the programme's LGBT fanbase, explaining 'we tried very hard, but [LGBT] people refused to be offended. I admire them for that. Thank god you're hanging on in there.'
THe much-anticipated Ab Fab Movie arrives in cinemas on July 1st, promising a ridiculous number of celebrity cameos (including Alexa Chung, Joan Collins, Dawn French, Lily Cole, Suki Waterhouse...) and a storyline involving the death of Kate Moss in a freak accident. We'd expect nothing less...
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