JOANNA LUMLEY SAYS SHE'D JUMP AT THE CHANCE TO RETURN TO ICONIC AB FAB ROLE
- Do YOU have a story? Email [email protected]
- The Celebrity Traitors line-up is stellar - but who does showbiz insider Katie Hind back to win? Find out exclusively in our FREE Spotlight newsletter. Sign up HERE.
One of British ITV's most iconic characters is Joanna Lumley's Patsy in Absolutely Fabulous – and she is not against making a comeback.
The actress, now 80, first stepped into Patsy's inimitable shoes as the champagne-swilling, chain-spoking PR guru back in in 1992 and last reprised the beloved BBC character in 2016.
This was for the much-anticipated Absolutely Fabulous Movie, which was released four years after the long-running sitcom, which also starred Jennifer Saunders as Edina Monsoon. It came to an end in 2012.
Now, in a new interview marking the 10th anniversary of the film, Joanna said that she'd 'jump' at the chance to reprise the role.
Joanna told OK magazine: 'If Jennifer [Saunders] told me tomorrow that she's written the scripts, I'd jump at the chance. I loved every minute of playing Patsy. Any actress who said she wouldn't is lying through her teeth!'
The beloved comedy duo, however, did reunite for the 2025 Amandaland Christmas special - with Joanna taking action to ensure that it happened.
She said that she actually threatened Jennifer and told her not to even think about turning down the opportunity.
The actress revealed: 'I've got to say, when I heard the notion that they were hoping for Jennifer, I actually emailed her and said, "If the script comes your way, do it or I'll have to kill you". Because I knew she'd take the pants off it.'
Mercifully, fans of the Absolutely Fabulous actress will not have to wait too long to see Joanna on screen again.
She is returning to reprise her Amandaland role of Felicity in the show's second season, set to air this week.
The season's synopsis reads: 'Amanda is still living in Soha and still juggling teenagers, her online Senuous brand and her co-lab.
But while she's resigned to staying put, she has big plans to upscale.'
Elsewhere in her interview with OK! magazine, Joanna said that getting older doesn't bother her in the slightest.
She stressed that she is still always looking forward to her next adventure rather than looking back.
Despite having got her big break as a Bond girl back in 1969, it was Patsy who made Joanna a household name.
She joked: 'To this day, wherever I go in the world, there is always a gaggle of Patsy fans, often dolled up to the nines and looking terribly glamorous. Very few females. Mostly men!'
Joanna admitted: 'If you'd told me 40 years ago that I'd have this following, it would have seemed ludicrous.'
Amandaland season two is set to premiere at 9pm on BBC on May 8 and will be available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
Read more 2026-05-05T14:30:13Z
