NEED TO KNOW<\/h3>\n\n- \n\n
Rivals<\/em> stars Aidan Turner and Victoria Smurfit are paying tribute to the late author Jilly Cooper ahead of the show’s second season<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n- \n\n
\u201cHaving Jilly on set was like somebody took the roof off the set and just poured sunshine in,\u201d Smurfit tells PEOPLE<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
- \n\n
Cooper died at age 88 on Oct. 5, 2025, from a head injury seemingly caused by an accidental fall<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
The Rivals<\/em><\/a> cast is honoring Jilly Cooper’s legacy.\u00a0<\/p>\nWhile speaking to PEOPLE about the upcoming season of Rivals<\/em>, which is set in the late 1980s and adapted from Cooper’s 1988 novel of the same name, Aidan Turner and Victoria Smurfit reflect on the moment they found out about the romance author’s tragic death.\u00a0<\/p>\n\u201cI remember the morning quite well, and it’s one of those strange, eerie times when you’re all brought together, you’re called into a room,\u201d recalls Turner, 42, who portrays hotheaded Irish journalist Declan O’Hara in the show. \u201cIt just felt odd and strange, and then our lovely producer, Eliza [Mellor] was quite tearful about it and told us.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was really shocking,\u201d he continues. \u201cIt was only, I think, five weeks prior, we were all having a big summer party at Jilly’s house, and she was in amazing form, making speeches, filthy and funny in equal measures, just being her brilliant self. She was a real force when she was around, so it was deeply saddening and shocking.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\nJilly Cooper
Credit: Mike Marsland\/WireImage<\/i><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
Although everybody was in shock after learning of Cooper’s death, Smurfit, 52, who plays Maud O’Hara in the show, remembers that they \u201chad to keep working\u201d nonetheless.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe would have been so cross with us if we hadn’t kept working,\u201d she quips of Cooper. \u201cAnd at the end of the day on wrap, Dominic Treadwell-Collins and Alexander Lamb came down from London simply to give everybody of the cast and the crew a glass of champagne because Jilly loved her champagne, and we all toasted to her on the day she passed, a mark of respect.\u201d<\/p>\n
Following Cooper’s death at age 88 on Oct. 5, 2025, from a head injury seemingly caused by an accidental fall, her children, Felix Cooper and Emily Tarrant, told The New York Times<\/em><\/a> that her \u201cunexpected death\u201d came \u201cas a complete shock.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rivals<\/em> stars Aidan Turner and Victoria Smurfit are paying tribute to the late author Jilly Cooper ahead of the show’s second season<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n \u201cHaving Jilly on set was like somebody took the roof off the set and just poured sunshine in,\u201d Smurfit tells PEOPLE<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n Cooper died at age 88 on Oct. 5, 2025, from a head injury seemingly caused by an accidental fall<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n The Rivals<\/em><\/a> cast is honoring Jilly Cooper’s legacy.\u00a0<\/p>\n While speaking to PEOPLE about the upcoming season of Rivals<\/em>, which is set in the late 1980s and adapted from Cooper’s 1988 novel of the same name, Aidan Turner and Victoria Smurfit reflect on the moment they found out about the romance author’s tragic death.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI remember the morning quite well, and it’s one of those strange, eerie times when you’re all brought together, you’re called into a room,\u201d recalls Turner, 42, who portrays hotheaded Irish journalist Declan O’Hara in the show. \u201cIt just felt odd and strange, and then our lovely producer, Eliza [Mellor] was quite tearful about it and told us.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt was really shocking,\u201d he continues. \u201cIt was only, I think, five weeks prior, we were all having a big summer party at Jilly’s house, and she was in amazing form, making speeches, filthy and funny in equal measures, just being her brilliant self. She was a real force when she was around, so it was deeply saddening and shocking.\u201d<\/p>\n Jilly Cooper Although everybody was in shock after learning of Cooper’s death, Smurfit, 52, who plays Maud O’Hara in the show, remembers that they \u201chad to keep working\u201d nonetheless.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cShe would have been so cross with us if we hadn’t kept working,\u201d she quips of Cooper. \u201cAnd at the end of the day on wrap, Dominic Treadwell-Collins and Alexander Lamb came down from London simply to give everybody of the cast and the crew a glass of champagne because Jilly loved her champagne, and we all toasted to her on the day she passed, a mark of respect.\u201d<\/p>\n Following Cooper’s death at age 88 on Oct. 5, 2025, from a head injury seemingly caused by an accidental fall, her children, Felix Cooper and Emily Tarrant, told The New York Times<\/em><\/a> that her \u201cunexpected death\u201d came \u201cas a complete shock.\u201d<\/p>\n
Credit: Mike Marsland\/WireImage<\/i><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n