Easily one of our favourite things about a novel getting adapted onto the big screen is the inevitable author cameo. From Stephanie Meyer popping up in the first Twilight film, to Margaret Atwood appearing in The Handmaid's Tale pilot, we get a very bookish thrill seeing our favourite authors on screen, and now we can add Dame Jilly Cooper to that list too. The legendary writer appeared in a 'blink and you'll miss it' moment during the fifth episode of Rivals.
Rivals is a Disney+ adaption of Cooper's best selling novel of the same name, which is the second book in the Rutshire Chronicles, of which there are now 11 books. The series follows the lives of the close-knit society of Rutshire, with a particular focus on the intense rivalry between Lord Tony Baddingham (David Tennant) and Rupert Campbell-Black (Alex Hassell) as they compete to win the IBA, and therefore be in control of the Cotswold's television centre for the next five years.
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Jilly, who served as an executive producer on the series, had a surprise cameo role in the fifth episode of the season. During the episode we see writer Lizzie Vereker (Katherine Parkinson) pay a visit to her book agent in London. They have a long lunch and during the lunch her agent reads out a particularly steamy extract from Lizzie's new book.
After she's read the extract aloud, we then see the camera pan ever so slightly to a woman having her lunch behind the pair. She chuckles at the extract and it turns out this woman is in fact Dame Jilly Cooper.
And it's safe to say fans were loving the surprise appearance from the writer. One person wrote on X: 'When Jilly Cooper makes a cameo in Rivals at the point where the agent reads spicy romance in the restaurant. I see what you did there, cheeky.' While another added: 'ADORE that Jilly Cooper has a cameo in #Rivals.' And another said: 'The Jilly Cooper cameo is perfection. The whole thing is a blast - camp as Christmas!'
Despite being an executive producer on the series, Cooper claimed she didn't have much involvement in the series.
She told the BBC: 'How much of a say did I have? Not much.' She also added her grandson Jago worked as a runner on the series, and she was better known on set as 'Jago's granny'.
As for whether there would be more Rivals seasons to come? Well Cooper is keen for more, telling the BBC when asked about her hopes for future seasons: 'I hope so, yes. That would keep us all very happy for the next few years.'
Well, if we do get more Rivals, we'll be expecting another iconic cameo from Dame Jilly Cooper.
Rivals is available on Disney+ now
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Lydia Venn is Cosmopolitan UK’s Senior Entertainment and Lifestyle Writer. She covers everything from , to the latest celebrity news. She also writes across our work/life section regularly creating , covering exciting new releases and sharing the latest must-haves. In her role she’s interviewed everyone from Margot Robbie to Niall Horan, and her work has appeared on an episode of . After completing a degree in English at the University of Exeter, Lydia moved into journalism, writing for the , before working as Features Editor at , where she spoke on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour and Talk Radio. She has an encyclopedic knowledge of Gilmore Girls and 00s teen movies, and in her free time can be found with a margarita in hand watching the Real Housewives on repeat. Find her on .
