It’s a new Dawn French
Jokes aside, she’s a changed woman
She’s had a crazy life, with her fair share of tragedy and belly laughs, but don’t expect Dawn French to celebrate her 60th with a massive bender.
The British comedienne plans to mark the milestone this week with just a handful of loved ones, “good music, food, wine, stories, kissing and cake”.
The beloved VicarofDibley star, applauded by many for embracing her plus-size figure, recently revealed a massive 48kg weight loss thanks to a brush with uterine cancer. Facing a hysterectomy, she opted for keyhole surgery, but was told the operation would have a better chance of success if she lost weight.
Rather than relying on a quick fix, Dawn achieved her new size 14 figure with a balanced approach to food and exercise – “walking loads and cutting out sugary treats”.
But the dramatic weight loss is window dressing compared to other changes in her life. After 25 years of marriage, the actress divorced her comedian husband Sir Lenny Henry in 2010. Although it was amicable, it was a difficult time for Dawn, who had dealt with her father’s suicide at the age of 19, then endured a long struggle with miscarriages and infertility.
In 2013, however, she married charity boss Mark Bignell and her
new memoir, Me.You.ADiary, reveals a more introspective character than her fans have been used to.
These days, Dawn is good at “owning all my little brokennesses, accepting my imperfections”. She explains, “Each crack represents something I’ve learnt from and is a clue to my history, a mark I’m proud to bear.”
She admits her public persona was not always the real her and “without exception, I have been longing to leave every single party I’ve ever been to from the second I’ve arrived”.
After moving to Cornwall with Mark, Dawn considered giving up acting – “being in front of the cameras lost some of its delights” – but she’s relishing her role in TV drama Delicious.
Despite diving back into the limelight, there will be time to celebrate her big birthday with close family, including her adopted daughter Billie, 26, who lives nearby. The star joked recently that the pair can’t live under the same roof.
“The love, thank God, is profound and I do thank God, because I love that kid so much that sometimes if I don’t like her or she doesn’t like me, we survive e it.”it.