There are just weeks to go until the Bolli-swigging, hard-partying Patsy Stone returns to the screen in 'Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie' (yassss!), and now the woman who plays her, Joanna Lumley, has revealed a plot point that, until now, has gone unnoticed by many.

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Speaking to V Magazine about the ease with which the iconic comedy, written by Jennifer Saunders, has interwoven LGBT issues into its storylines during its 24-year lifespan, Lumley confirmed that Stone is transgender.

'You go back and pick through it, the amount of gay references and ease with which it's been put into the story, without it being dragged along like a great log of plot,' she said.

'It's really normal that one of [Edina's] ex-husbands now lives with his young boyfriend. It's completely normal that [Edina] wants Saffy [Edina's long-suffering daughter] to be a lesbian or that Serge [Edina's long lost son] is gay and living in New York. It's completely normal that Patsy is transgender.'

References have been made to Patsy's gender identity throughout the long-running series - for example, during the 1970s in Morocco, Patsy underwent a sex change operation and briefly lived as a man; but, as Eddy says, 'it fell off' - but it's the first time Lumley has explicitly said as such.

'Ab Fab: The Movie' opens on July 1, with a star-packed cast of cameo appearances from the likes of Kate Moss, Stella McCartey and Joan Collins.

The plot sees Patsy and partner-in-crime Edina Monsoon flee London for the French Riviera after accidentally killing Moss at a swanky riverside party.