Inside the life of Dame Jilly Copper: Best-selling Rivals novelist and journalist on BBC1’s In My Own Words

WHEN it comes to a good bonkbuster, Jilly Cooper has always been at the top of her game.

The raunchy writer’s novels have won over a huge army of fans and now her smash hit novel Rivals has been turned into a Disney+ series starring David Tennant.

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Dame Jilly Cooper was born on February 21, 1937, in Hornchurch, Essex.

The author comes from a strong Yorkshire family, and spent a lot of her childhood in the Ilkley.

Jilly was educated at Moorfield School in Ilkley, and then the Godolphin School in Salisbury.

She began her career as a journalist as a junior reporter for the Middlesex Independent from 1957 to 1959.

Becoming a writer

Jilly‘s big break came when she was asked to write a feature about her experiences by the editor-in-chief of the Sunday Times Magazine.

This launched her into the spotlight, as this article led to her own column where she wrote about marriage, sex and housework.

The column ran from 1969 until 1982 when she moved to The Mail on Sunday for a further five years.

She also worked as an account executive, copywriter, publisher’s reader and receptionist.

The bonkbuster queen

It was this column that led Jilly to being able to publish her first book, How To Stay Married, in 1969.

This was quickly followed by a guide, How to Survive From Nine To Five, in 1970.

Her fourteenth novel, Pandora, was published in 2002 and spent 19 weeks on the bestseller list.

Probably her most famous book is Riders, which was published in 1985.

It is the first book in her Rutshire Chronicles Series, which runs to ten novels.

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Jilly’s books have sold over 11 million copies in the UK.

They have also been translated into a number of languages and published in the US

Turning fiction into drama

Jilly’s smash hit book Rivals has been made into a TV series for Disney+, with a star-studded cast.

Set in the fictional English county of Rutshire, Rupert Campbell-Black and Lord Tony Baddingham have a rivalry that seeps into the world of Corinium television station.

The cast includes former Dr Who star David Tennant, Poldark‘s Aidan Turner, Sherwood star Claire Rushbrook, EastEnders‘ Danny Dyer, and Humans actress Katherine Parkinson.

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Married life

Jilly married publisher Leo Cooper in 1961, and were together until Leo passed away in 2013.

The couple had known each other from childhood, but eventually got married when she was 24 and he was 27.

The couple adopted two children – Felix and Emily – during their marriage and they went on to have five grandchildren.

Their marriage suffered a big shock in 1990 when publisher Sarah Johnson revealed she and Leo had a years long affair.

The couple separated for some time but they eventually reconciled and got back together.