Dawn French has revealed she embraces her flaws and is ‘not into filters and perfect’.
The comedian, 65, appeared on The Chris Moyles Show on Radio X and voiced her frustration at trying to live as though you are ‘perfect’.
She said: ‘Nobody’s perfect are they? I don’t know why we tried to pretend to be…
‘We all know that we can’t achieve it but we somehow try to live to be perfect and then we feel like we failed and I’ve gotten to the age now where I just think I can’t do that and actually I didn’t desire to do it.’
Dawn said her favourite type of people are those who are honest about their flaws, rather than trying to pretend like everything in their life is fine.
Candid: Dawn French has revealed she embraces her flaws and is ‘not into filters and perfect’
Confident: The comedian, 65, appeared on The Chris Moyles Show and voiced her frustration at trying to live as though you are ‘perfect’
She added: ‘Don’t you love your mates the most who come to you and say, “I did this dreadful thing yesterday. I told so and so such a thing and I said…”
‘Whatever faux par it is? I love people who tell me that stuff, flawed people owning their flaws is my favourite, that’s how you connect with people.
‘I’m not into filters and perfect and I don’t want my daughter to feel like she has to be like that, either.
‘So the minute I started thinking about all the mistakes I’ve made and all the stupid times I have been what you call a twit that I thought, “oh, there’s a tsunami of it”. I am mainly made of it.’
Dawn is mother to daughter Billie, 32, from her marriage to Lenny Henry who she split from in 2010.
It comes after Dawn reflected on the sudden end to her smash hit BBC show French And Saunders.
The actress wrote and starred in the sketch show with best friend Jennifer Saunders for six series, but in 2004 the duo announced the end, shocking fans.
Writing in her new book The Twat Files, Dawn recalls the ‘tipping point’ came during filming for a sketch with pop star Anastacia.
Interview: Dawn said her favourite type of people are those who are honest about their flaws, rather than trying to pretend like everything in their life is fine
Dawn and Jennifer were filming the scene in the toilets in the BBC building with Dawn seen describing her fantasy that Anastacia will hear her sing and invite her to come on Top of the Pops with her.
Anastacia stars in the sketch, overhearing the conversation. Cut to Dawn in the pop star’s signature cowgirl look singing with the star on TOTP.
Dawn writes in her new book The Twat Files that seeing herself in the costume was the moment she decided to quit the show. ‘I’d genuinely never felt so ugly. I’d often voluntarily, happily been ‘ugly’ for hundreds of sketches’.
‘I’ve never minded what something looks like, as long as it’s servicing the joke right. The mirror was clearly telling me why this was so painfully abhorrent.’
‘Because the joke was on me.’
Smash hit: Dawn recently reflected on the sudden end to her smash hit BBC show French And Saunders (pictured with comedy partner Jennifer Saunders in the show)
End of an era: The comedian wrote and starred in the sketch show with best friend Jennifer Saunders for six wildly successful series, but in 2004 the duo announced the end
After wrapping filming for the day, Dawn says she ‘burst into hot, angry tears. I properly sobbed all the 28 miles home’ before calling Jennifer and telling her she wanted to end their show.
Speaking to The Times, Dawn insisted that her best friend didn’t try to dissuade her, explaining: ‘Jennifer would never fight me on something so big.
‘She does say now, ‘What the f*** were you thinking? We could have sorted that easily.’ But it wasn’t a problem.’
As for her, she has never regretted her decision, adding: ‘I think it was time to go to another chapter, and you have to know when that happens.’
French and Saunders started working together when they met in their early 20s in 1978, with their eponymous sketch show first airing on BBC Two in 1987.
The Chris Moyles Show airs on Radio X, weekdays at 6am-10am, Saturdays 8am – 11am, and on Global Player.
