Linda Robson and other members of the Birds of a Feather cast demanded an increase in their wages after discovering the stars of Only Fools and Horses were being paid double what they were.
In her memoir, Truth Be Told, the Loose Women star recalled having a drink with her co-stars, Pauline Quirk and Lesley Joseph, when one of the show’s accountants let slip how much David Jason and Nicholas Lyndhurst were getting paid for their roles in the iconic sitcom.
“We were pulling in just as many viewers on the same channel and working equally hard, from six in the morning till ten at night,” Linda wrote. “The only difference was that we were women. We were fuming.”
After discovering the actors were getting paid twice the amount they were per episode, the three women called a meeting with their production company to demand the same wages.
The 66-year-old continued: “We expected to have to put up a bit of a fight but to our surprise, that was all it took. The producer said, ‘You know what, I think you’re right and I think you deserve it.’
“We were really proud of ourselves for standing up for each other. When the three of us were together we felt indestructible.”
Birds of a Feather ran for nine years from 1989 until 1998 before being revived by ITV in 2014 for three more series and three specials, concluding in 2020.
In her book, Linda recalled how the first episode caused a stir when it was released. They discovered 100 complaints had been made to the BBC because Pauline’s character said “bastard” – reportedly the first time this word had been used by a woman in a sitcom.
‘We started panicking that we were going to get pulled before the next episode even went out,” the TV personality said. “Esta said not to worry – she had a plan.”
Linda revealed how they called pretending to be viewers to make sure the series wasn’t cancelled.
She explained: “So we poured ourselves another glass of wine and got to work. The four of us took it in turns to ring the BBC complaints line, disguising our voices each time, to say how amazing we thought the new comedy was.
“Obviously we didn’t get cancelled because it was a huge success, and overnight I went from being a little bit known to properly famous. We had millions tuning in for each episode, and fans from all walks of life. I’ve heard Prince Edward was a fan – and Fergie, too.”
