Vicar of Dibley star Dawn French told her surgeon as she was put under, ‘I’m a national treasure… no pressure!’
Dawn French revealed she told the surgeon to take special care of her because she was a “national treasure”.
The Vicar of Dibley star muttered the words as she went under anesthetic for the operation, which she said was “of the female kind”.
But she didn’t realize what she had said until the surgeon told her after the procedure – to her constant horror.
Describing her embarrassment after returning from surgery, the 66-year-old said: “The surgeon comes in and says, ‘Everything went very well.’ I said, ‘Isn’t it amazing, the anaesthetic?’
‘He said, ‘Do you remember what you told me?’ I said, ‘I meant to count down, didn’t I?’
Dawn French has revealed she told her surgeon to take special care of her because she is a ‘national treasure’
‘He said ‘Yes, but you told me at the last minute…’ – I’m embarrassed to admit it – I said: ‘I’m a national treasure, no pressure! ”
Reflecting on the cringe-inducing moment, French added: “Imagine saying that about yourself! How disgusting. I don’t even think so.
‘Why did I say that? I just wanted him to be extra careful.
“It’s a great disinhibitor, an anesthetic, and I’m ashamed.” Luckily, he was laughing – he said, ‘Yeah, that got me on my toes.’ How shameful, how disgusting.’
Dawn admitted her mistake to comedy partner Jennifer Saunders on their podcast French & Saunders: Titting About
She admitted her mistake to comedy partner Jennifer Saunders on their podcast French & Saunders: Titting About.
French also described how she complimented the nurse as she came out of the anesthetic.
She said: “The next thing I know I’m waking up and I’m in the recovery room with a wonderful nurse by my side helping me recover. Coming out of that anesthesia, I suddenly felt that somehow I had to be in love with her.
I said, ‘What’s your name, I love you, thank you for taking care of me, I don’t know what you’ve done to deserve this as a job or anything, but I’ll never, ever be able to thank you enough for all the things you do for me , for all you are doing to help me now. I’m not dying because of you.
“I’m not cold because of you.” ‘
In the same podcast, Saunders revealed how her husband, Young star Adrian Edmondson, went in for a vasectomy, and the doctor assured him that the practice respects the confidentiality of its celebrity patients.
He then went on to undermine that promise by revealing how the late Sir Michael Parkinson had undergone the procedure days earlier.