Actor Aidan Turner feared he was being “sacked” from his TV show Rivals when Jilly Cooper – the author behind the book on which the series is based – died because there was such a strange atmosphere on set.
Aidan Turner feared he was about to be “sacked” from Rivals on the day Jilly Cooper died.
The actor – who stars in the Disney Plus series alongside David Tennant, Emily Atack and Danny Dyer – has revealed the atmosphere on set turned unusually frosty when news of the Rivals author’s passing filtered through in October 2025 and Aidan was convinced the strange atmosphere meant he was about to lose his job.
In an interview with The Times newspaper, he said: “[Jilly Cooper’s death was] really shocking and really sad. I was on set that day.
“I knew something was up. I thought I was in trouble. Irish Catholic in me. No f****** joke. I thought: ‘What have I done? I’m being f****** sacked. I’ve done something. Don’t know what it is, but it’s bad’.”
He went on to explain he only understood what was really happening when news of Jilly Cooper’s death was announced to the cast and crew.
Aidan said: “Yeah, we were told. It had only been the night before and it was shocking, because she wasn’t sick.
“I went back to the trailer and the only thing I had pinned up was an invite: this quite beautiful, ornate invitation that Jilly sent out to her [annual] garden party.
“She’d have a party at her house and I had that stuck in the mirror. I checked it after I heard the news and it was only five weeks prior that we’d had that party. She was in great form, you know, drinking Champagne, telling stories, being filthy and funny and brilliant.”
When asked to describe the author, he said: “Happy.[She] aways seemed so happy.”
He went on to recall Jilly’s first day on the set of the adaptation of her book, saying: “The first time [she was on set], [executive producer] Dominic [Treadwell-Collins] was walking her round the trailers.
“I said: ‘What do you think of this?’ And she goes: ‘Yes, it’s really wonderful. But tell me, with these trailers, who’s bonking who?’
“And, I mean, it’s a f****** fair point! It’s the first thing you think of if you haven’t seen a trailer park before. You’re seeing all these names, you see Danny Dyer’s name, and you’re going: ‘You guys are clearly all f******. I mean, how could you not be?'”
Aidan Turner feared he was being ‘sacked’ from Rivals when Jilly Cooper died
