Fleabag creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge has revealed the BBC made her cut a line from the show’s latest episode.
It’s been three years since Phoebe was last seen in action as Fleabag, but the wait for series two is finally over, with the new episode now available to stream on BBC Three.
However, speaking to Digital Spy she disclosed that one line she’d written – which takes place during a conversation between Andrew Scott’s new character and Fleabag’s family – did not make into the episode.
“Originally, the priest said he didn’t want to talk about his brother because his brother’s a c***,” she explained. “And the BBC were like, ‘You can’t say c**t’.”
Phoebe went on to say the BBC requested an unspecified “alternative”, so she decided to switch the C-bomb with “paedophile”, prompting the priest character to declare: “I appreciate the irony here.”
As well as Andrew, Fiona Shaw and Kristin Scott Thomas are also joining the cast, though their characters do not appear in the first episode of series two.
Regular cast members Sian Clifford, Bill Patterson, Brett Gelman and recent Oscar winner Olivia Colman have all returned for the new episodes, which pick up a year on from the events of the series one finale.
Prior to the launch of the new series, HuffPost UK sat down with Andrew Scott to discuss what fans should expect from the new instalments, as well as his previous friendship with Phoebe Waller-Bridge and his feelings on LGBTQ+ actors playing straight roles.
The first episode of Fleabag series two will air on BBC One tonight at 10.35pm.