Author of Rivals told writers to stop making her 'macho men' cry

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Novelist Dame Jilly Cooper scolded the team behind Rivals and told them to stop making her "macho men" cry on screen, an executive producer on the show has said.

Dame Jilly was best known for writing The Rutshire Chronicles, which portrayed the scandals, sex lives and social circles of the wealthy, countryside, horse-loving elite.

Her widely popular second book Rivals, in the 11-novel series, was published in 1988 and reached a whole new audience when it was turned into a hit Disney+ TV series in 2024.

Writer and executive producer of the show Laura Wade said Dame Jilly was like a ray of "human sunshine", but had one memorable piece of criticism of the show.

Speaking at Hay Festival, Wade said: "We were so lucky to have Jilly… You would expect someone to be quite strict about what you do with their key characters, and she really wasn't.

"She would tell us, if I was making Rupert (Campbell-Black) cry too often, that was one of her favourites – 'stop making my macho men cry all the time'."

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Dame Jilly, who was an English author and journalist, died unexpectedly last October, aged 88, after suffering injuries from a fall at home.

At the time of her death, Queen Camilla led the tributes, describing her as a legend and a "wonderfully witty and compassionate friend".

The Queen added: "May her hereafter be filled with impossibly handsome men and devoted dogs."

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During the panel discussion at Hay Festival, Victoria Smurfit, who plays Maud O'Hara in Rivals, recalled the moment the cast and crew found out about Dame Jilly's sudden death.

The actress said: "I came back (from a break) and Eliza Mellor, our extraordinary on-set producer, was in the room and everything about her was devastated, and I remember walking in and going, 'Oh God, someone's died'.

"And it is a testament to Jilly's sparkle and her champagne soaked soul of heavenly delight that at 88 there was not one iota of me that thought it might be her.

"She'd been across all the episodes, she'd been across season three, she'd been across everything, and she dropped and rolled…

"And now she gets to have fun up there."

Dame Jilly sold more than 11 million books in the UK alone, and was an active part of the show's production, serving as an executive producer.