Fussy waiters are not so Ab Fab!
HER character in Absolutely Fabulous was never happier than when seeing her glass topped up with a steady supply of Bollinger.
But in real life Jennifer Saunders prefers a hands-off approach to customer service, revealing how overly attentive waiters who ‘hover’ around the dinner table get on her nerves.
The comedian, 59, said: ‘What makes me really angry is people asking if you are all right. Like in a restaurant.
‘And I think, “I hate you. If it was not all right I would have told you”. Leave me alone. Just leave me alone.’
Speaking at an event for Standard Issue magazine, she added: ‘People hover around you. I am like, “Don’t come over. Don’t fill up my wine glass. I will do it. More often than you would”.’
She also bemoaned shop staff who try to make ‘mindless’ small talk with customers.
The mother of three said: ‘I was at a till the other day. I managed to buy something and she went, “Successful day?”
‘What do you mean, “Successful day?” It’s mindless. We like to be grumpy shoppers.’
But unlike her hot-headed Ab Fab alter ego, champagne-quaffing PR Edina Monsoon, Miss Saunders would rather suffer in silence than get into an argument in a shop or restaurant.
She previously said: ‘If someone brings me a really c**p meal I will tell them it’s wonderful and then just never go to the restaurant again. I think that’s the best way to do it generally. Just pretend to enjoy it and then leave.’
Last week, Miss Saunders returned to the West End stage for the first time in 25 years as the Duchess of Berwick in Oscar Wilde’s Lady Windermere’s Fan.
She was also back on television for a Christmas special with her comedy partner Dawn French.
The pair, who found fame together after forming a double act while at London’s Central School of Speech and Drama, released a special episode to mark their 30th anniversary.
The BBC One programme 300 Years of French and Saunders showed some of their older material mixed with new clips.