Jennifer Saunders has told the Mail on Sunday that she has no future plans for Absolutely Fabulous: “I’m not doing anything more with Ab Fab. That. Is. It.”
Jennifer also spoke about social media and its effects: “Everyone’s a critic. At least in the old days you didn’t know how many people liked you or hated you, you just lived in this blissful close circle of friends… Nowadays I’m not surprised people are cracking up, because you think, ‘This is unsafe.'”
It’s not just celebs on social media the Ab Fab star is concerned about: “I hate the way it makes girls think they should look.
“That Kim Kardashian look, it’s so automaton. Girls spend longer and longer in the bloody bathroom, looking in the mirror, taking selfies. Girls are now getting ill because all they spend their lives doing is finding the perfect selfie.”
The pressure to take selfies with fans on the street also bothers Jennifer: “If you say no, they look at you like you just shot their child. Eventually you pull a face into the camera. He puts it on his page and before you know it, you Google my name and that’s the first picture to pop up. Looking shit.”
Since beginning as a sketch on French & Saunders, Absolutely Fabulous has been a comedy favourite for 25 years with its outrageous characters, the inseparable and drunken best friends Patsy Stone and Eddy Monsoon and Eddy’s long-suffering daughter Saffy.
Having teased her audience about a film sequel at the press screening of Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie alongside Joanna Lumley – who seemed very keen – it seems the comedian has decided to reprioritise: “I can’t see the point of doing anything else with [Absolutely Fabulous]. It just takes so long. There’s lots of other stuff I’d like to do. Plus, I’d like to spend time with my grandchildren.”
We’ll see what Joanna Lumley has to say about this…