Joanna Lumley reveals the one time she pranked Donald Trump

Absolutely Fabulous alum Joanna Lumley is looking back at a particularly amusing moment she once had with former United States President Donald Trump. The 74-year-old actress recalled what happened while on The One Show this week.

According to the Daily Mail, Lumley explained that she once tried to pull a prank on Trump, and the situation quickly turned awkward. Taking inspiration from her most iconic character, Patsy Stone, it was suggested that Lumley play a joke and pretend to be Trump’s ex-wife Ivana Trump. Apparently, Absolutely Fabulous creator Jennifer Saunders once wrote that Patsy looked up to Ivana, and fans will know that the two had similar hairstyles.

So, as Joanna Lumley explained why on The One Show, when Lady Elizabeth Anson was hosting a party in the 1990s which both Lumley and Trump attended, an idea was born. Lady Elizabeth wanted to see if the Coronation Street actress would dress up as Patsy, perhaps Trump would mistake her for his ex-wife. The party took place after his split from Ivana, and while he was married Marla Maples.

Joanna Lumley agreed to pull the prank, and here’s how she described her encounter with Trump going:

"I put on high heels, lashings of make-up and I put my hair up as Patsy-ish as I could possibly be. And I shimmied across the room towards him. There he was, usual sort of orange, yellow. And I sort of went, ‘hi,’ like that. And he looked at me in amazement. But his nice little wife at the time, Marla Maples, said, ‘I think you look wonderful, how lovely to meet you.’ So I felt a little bit deflated."

If only there was a video of that encounter somewhere! Trump and Maples went their separate ways in 1999, and the former President went on to marry Melania Trump in 2005. I’m sure Joanna Lumley would’ve never expected the former reality star and businessman to go on to become the US President. No one really did.

To keep up with Lumley in 2021, she is currently starring in a new show titled Finding Alice. It debuted in January of this year and airs on ITV.