RAUNCHY author Dame Jilly Cooper has urged couples to have as many romps as they can — declaring: “Sex is heaven”.
The writer, 87, also said her works are more than “just bonking”.
Speaking on a BBC documentary, Jilly — who has sold more than 12 million books of sex-filled fiction – said: “Life is quite short of joy and I think sex is heaven.
“I think one should have as much as you can and in books I think you should have quite a lot, too.”
Reflecting on her teens, she added: “The only thing I was ever interested in was men.”
She said snobbery still surrounds her books’ success, adding: “They call them bonkbusters.
“It’s a slightly loose term for it because it’s not just bonking.” An adaptation of her steamy 1988 work Rivals is to premiere on Disney+ next month.
Set in the world on TV in the 1980s, the eight-part drama stars Alex Hassell as caddish Rupert Campbell-Black — alongside David Tennant and Emily Atack.
Jilly said previously that she hopes modern sensitivities about filming sex scenes will not put a damper on the cast’s performances.
She told The Sun: “They have intimacy co-ordinators to help them along. Can you imagine that?
“Having to have sex and some bossy boots says, ‘Put that there and put that there’. It would be awful.”
Of her male characters, Jilly, whose husband Leo Cooper died in 2013 aged 79, added: “All my heroes in all of my romances were all very macho, they are strong and they are brave. They don’t get pushed around so much as they do now.”
- IN My Own Words is on BBC1 tomorrow, 10.40pm.
