Comedian Jennifer Saunders will turn her hand to opera for this year’s Comic Relief 2021 telethon. The 62-year-old Absolutely Fabulous star initially thought the idea of her singing on live television was “ridiculous”, and so politely declined the offer at first.
It wasn’t until one of her friends, who is a prouder on the programme, had a word in her ear that she changed her mind.
Jennifer will learn the ropes with the help of opera singer Charlotte Church and the English National Opera [ENO].
She will perform an aria on stage this evening.
Jennifer and the Comic Opera cast will sing in socially-distanced plastic booths due to the coronavirus pandemic.
READ MORE: Cliff Richard’s mother warned girlfriend ‘don’t get too fond of him’
The mum-of-three has now recalled those initial conversations with the Comic Relief team.
“I not only said no – I told them not to be so ridiculous.
“I’ve been locked up for a year and I can barely speak,” she told last week’s Radio Times, before explaining what changed her mind.
Jennifer continued: “Fiona Cotter Craig, a very old friend of mine who is one of the producers, rang and said, ‘Can I sell it to you? The English National Opera are very nice and kind and they’ll make it easy for you’.
It was back in 2004, while voicing the role of the Fairy Godmother in DreamWorks’ Shrek 2, that Jennifer showed off her singing skills.
She performed Bonnie Tyler’s famous hit Holding Out for a Hero.
The track got the seal of approval from her then co-star Julie Andrews, who as the star of musicals Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music, certainly knows what she is talking about.
“Well done, dear,” Jennifer recalled her saying.
She explained that in contrast, opera singing was all about the technique and breathing.
The actress and screenwriter also let slip that her hearing was starting to fail, which could pose a problem when learning her aria.
She will only discover what song she is performing on the night, five days before the live show.
Following tradition, the aria could be in English, German or Italian
Comic Relief goes live tonight at 7pm on BBC One.