Jennifer Saunders dedicates the Spice Girls musical, VIVA FOREVER to her daughters

Posted on 20 June 2012

Jennifer Saunders, one half of the hugely popular duo French and Saunders and writer and star of Absolutely Fabulous has revealed in an interview on Radio 4's Chain Reaction that she has dedicated the musical Viva Forever to her children.

The star, who has three daughters - Ella, 26, Beattie, 24, and Freya, 21 - with comedian husband Adrian Edmondson, revealed in the interview that she couldn't bear to let anybody else write the script and "mess it up" because she and her daughters were such massive Spice Girls fans.

Jennifer said: "I got the call and I said 'Yes, I'd quite like to do that'. Because I'd hate someone else to do it and mess it up... I did it for my girls because it meant so much to them growing up. And we're all such big Spice Girls fans. I did it for them."

Saunders performed with the Spice Girls as part of a Comic Relief special with French and performed under the band name the Sugar Lumps.

The musical, Viva Forever, is co-written by Mamma Mia!'s Judy Craymer and follows a mother and daughter, with the backdrop of a TV talent show, using all the Spice Girls' hits to tell the story.

Jennifer revealed she has finished writing VIVA FOREVER and has already done two workshops of the script. It is due to open in the West End as early as November this year.