Birds Of A Feather axed by ITV after Pauline Quirke’s feud with Linda Robson

Birds Of A Feather has been canned by ITV after lead actress Pauline Quirke quit over a rumoured feud with co-star Linda Robson.

Speculation has been swirling around their once-tight friendship for months after Pauline declined to take part in the Christmas reunion special, leaving Linda and Lesley Joseph – who play Tracey Stubbs and Dorien Green respectively – to appear in it alone.

And now that Pauline – who played Tracey’s sister Sharon Theodopolopodous – has ruled out appearing in any potential future episodes, it seems ITV has taken the decision to axe the series for good.

“Without Pauline, the view is that there is no Birds Of A Feather,” a source told the Mail On Sunday.

“You cannot have Tracey without Sharon, and there is no way Pauline will be going back. Things are bad between her and Linda.

“Linda and Lesley gave it a go but, despite the figures being good, ITV won’t be recommissioning it,” the mole added.

The 2020 Christmas special attracted a healthy 7.9 million viewers, but sources close to Linda and Lesley told the publication that Pauline’s husband, Steve Sheen, who also works as her manager, wanted to negotiate her a better deal to stay in the show.

It comes after Loose Women panelist Linda rubbished claims of a falling-out between her and Pauline, who have known each other since they were 10.

“Take no notice of what you’ve heard about me and Pauline falling out. It’s a load of old codswallop,” she told the Sun earlier this month.

“Pauline just chose not to do Birds Of A Feather. She wants to concentrate on her acting academy, that’s that.”

She added: “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.”

But a source told the Mail On Sunday today that it’s “staggering” how Linda is interpreting the situation.

“They will never speak again,” said the insider.

“It is desperately sad, but also staggering that Linda would pretend they are friends. They are not.”

Pauline, Linda and Lesley are said to have fallen out during an argument at Teddington Studios in West London, which got so heated crew members had to separate Pauline and Lesley as they squared off outside the women’s toilets.

At the time of the Christmas special, Pauline’s absence was explained as Sharon being away on a cruise.

It’s believed Linda and Lesley thought they’d be able to replace Pauline with a younger actress in the same role before ITV pulled the plug.

Originally from https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/birds-feather-axed-itv-after-24119384