Linda Robson became swept up in rumours of a bitter falling out with her Birds of a Feather co-star and lifelong friend Pauline Quirke before her dementia diagnosis.
Pauline's husband Steve Sheen has revealed the actress has been diagnosed with dementia and is set to "step away from all commercial and professional duties" to spend time with her family. In a statement, he shared: "It is with a heavy heart that I announce my wife Pauline's decision to step back from all professional and commercial duties due to her diagnosis of Dementia in 2021."
Feud rumours between the co-stars were sparked when Pauline was nowhere to be seen in the Birds of a Feather special back in 2020. It left fans convinced that she and Linda had ended their friendship of fifty years. The two co-stars entertained viewers for decades as sisters Tracey and Sharon, who were left to fend for themselves after their husbands were arrested for armed robbery.
Yet for the 2020 Christmas special, Pauline did not make an appearance. Her lines in the title song were removed and so were pictures of Tracey and Sharon together. It was claimed Linda and Pauline had become estranged and in 2022, Linda decided to address the rumours.
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mirror.co.uk)She told The Mirror: "People say Pauline and I have fallen out. Obviously I couldn't see her during lockdown but I've seen her since. She just doesn't want to act anymore. She's had enough - it's long hours. She's concentrating on her drama academies. She's very hands on, going to classes and all that.
"I see Lesley [Joseph] all the time because we won Celebrity Coach Trip last year. And during the lockdowns I would leave funny things on her doorstep, like Tena Lady and hair dye! But when I was ill, both Pauline and Lesley rang me, or a member of my family, every couple of days to see how I was. They were both a big support and really there for me."
Addressing the rumours at the time, Linda told The Sun: "Take no notice of what you've heard about me and Pauline falling out. It's a load of old codswallop. Pauline just chose not to do Birds Of A Feather. She wants to concentrate on her acting academy, that's that." She continued: "We've known each other since we were 10. We're friends. Will Pauline return to the show? I don't know. I just know that the Christmas special went down really well. ITV were really, really pleased."
In 2023, Linda admitted that she had for a time felt 'envious' of Pauline after she began picking up more serious acting parts. Opening up during an episode of Loose Women, Linda confessed: "So I've never really been jealous of Pauline Quirke but I used to be envious of all the roles she got like dramas and everything.
"I used to think, 'Lovely, I'm really pleased for you but I would love to do some drama role as well'. But now I am doing drama roles, so I don't have to be envious anymore do I! But no jealousy can be a terrible thing really. I was delighted she was so successful but I just wanted a little bit of it as well and I wished I had got that."
Linda, Pauline, and Lesley attempted to dispel any row rumours once and for all by meeting up for lunch in 2022- making sure there were photos taken of the occasion. Linda said: "We had our photo taken together and I got my daughter Roberta to upload it to my Instagram, captioning it: ‘A lovely lunch with my beautiful friends.’ It was our way of saying, ‘There you go, that’ll shut you up!’"
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