Dawn French rejected chance to kiss Harry Styles

The 59-year-old actress was offered the opportunity to lock lips with the One Direction hunk in aid of the British charity Comic Relief, but Dawn – who famously snogged actor Hugh Grant on the TV show in 1995 – passed up the chance because of the age gap between herself and Harry, 23.

She explained: “The first suggestion that comes in to Comic Relief is ‘Who will you be kissing this year?’ and they make some suggestions, like, somebody said ‘What about if we could get Harry Styles to kiss you?’

“When I kissed Hugh Grant we did make a million quid and the kiss did go on for forty minutes. It went on through the news. What did I catch?

“Anyway, they suggested Harry Styles and I went ‘No hang on, hang on everyone, stop. I’m nearly 60. This is very unseemly that Harry Styles will be forced into the studio with an old woman and have to kiss her hairy lips!’… That’s wrong. I just had to say no to that, no. Let’s think of another idea.”

Meanwhile, Dawn has also admitted to being slightly envious of her former comedy partner Jennifer Saunders.

The duo worked together on their acclaimed sketch show ‘French and Saunders’.

But Dawn revealed she was jealous of her good friend after she also enjoyed success with the sitcom ‘Absolutely Fabulous’, which stemmed from a sketch they’d created together.

Speaking to the Daily Telegraph newspaper, Dawn quipped: “She had no discernible talent whatsoever until that moment, and then she came through on the inside lane and apparently she was talented all the time. I didn’t know that, I thought I was the funny one…

“When I saw that happening it was a huge amount of envy. Right in your belly in a place you don’t want it, and its bile-y and it tastes bad and it’s all consuming.

“But the good thing is I think you’re allowed to own up to it, and that’s what I did, I called her lots of words and just said ‘I cannot believe you’re this talented, I cannot believe it’s this successful, I can’t believe I’m not in it… I’m furious with you and I’m so jealous.’ And she loved that that was the case.

“And so in a way that made it alright. And what’s more important than the jealousy is that I love the girl.”