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A-list actress was turned down for Only Fools and Horses role because she was ‘too hot’ for Rodney

Home> Entertainment> TV

Published 10:10 6 Oct 2024 GMT+1

A-list actress was turned down for Only Fools and Horses role because she was ‘too hot’ for Rodney

Her career would look a lot different now had she got the part

Anish Vij

Anish Vij

Featured Image Credit: BBC / Photo by Dave Benett/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Topics: BBC, Celebrity, TV, TV and Film

Anish Vij
Anish Vij

Anish is a Journalist at LADbible Group and is a GG2 Young Journalist of the Year 2025. He has a Master's degree in Multimedia Journalism and a Bachelor's degree in International Business Management. Apart from that, his life revolves around the ‘Four F’s’ - family, friends, football and food. Email: [email protected]

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@Anish_Vij

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The A-list actor who went for an audition on Only Fools and Horses wasn't offered the role because she was 'too glamorous' for Rodney.

Back in the day, Only Fools and Horses was, of course, the best British sitcom on telly when it first aired back in 1981 on the BBC.

The Peckham-based show - lasting seven seasons and a bunch of Christmas specials - followed the Trotter family in their quest to get-rich-quick.

Fast-talking market trader Derek 'Del Boy' Trotter was played by David Jason, while Nicholas Lyndhurst took on the role of his younger brother, Rodney Trotter.

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They lived together in a council flat with their Grandad (Lennard Pearce) and later Uncle Albert (Buster Merryfield).

In and amongst it all was Cassandra Parry, who went on to marry Rodney later in the show.

After making her Only Fools and Horses debut in 1989, Gwyneth Strong's portrayal seemed a perfect fit for the younger Trotter brother.

Gwyneth Strong played the wife of Rodney Trotter (BBC)
Gwyneth Strong played the wife of Rodney Trotter (BBC)

However, author Mike Jones, who appeared in Channel 5 documentary Only Fools and Horses: Secrets and Scandals, has revealed that Elizabeth Hurley auditioned for the part.

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He explained: "She auditioned for the role and it was felt that perhaps she was probably a little too glamorous for…how can I say it diplomatically? Our lanky Trotter brother."

Instead, the characters met in the sixth series of the show, getting married and having a daughter together, named Joan.

Cassandra and Rodney met when the latter accidentally took her coat, which looked like his, and later went dancing in a nightclub where they found a connection with each other.

After the two got married, Rodney finally moved out of the flat that he shared with brother Del Boy.

Meanwhile for Hurley, the model/actor became famous in the early 90s through her relationship with Hugh Grant.

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Elizabeth Hurley's career could have looked very different (Instagram/@elizabethhurley1)
Elizabeth Hurley's career could have looked very different (Instagram/@elizabethhurley1)

Her breakthrough film role came in 1997, when she starred as Vanessa Kensington in spy comedy Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, alongside Mike Myers.

She also became the face of Estée Lauder, a role she held for many years.

Had she played Cassandra, her career could have looked very different.

For Strong, she is perfectly happy to always be known for her part in Only Fools and Horses.

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“It was a fantastic experience for me. I love that show and I loved being in it. It’s only ever been something positive in my life - it’s opened a lot of doors for me,” she told the Bury Times in 2019.

“And the reaction I get from the public is always so positive, I don’t think you can complain about that. You just have to embrace it.”

  • Only Fools and Horses legend David Jason 'threatened' to resign over audience reaction to joke
  • Only Fools and Horses legend now lives a very different lifestyle after ditching fame
  • Only Fools and Horses actor had real-life 30-year relationship with 'on-screen son'
  • Only Fools and Horses fans finally work out joke from first episode after four decades

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